Fear of Automation’s Dark Side Leads to Calls for Action
Some investors back policy or private-industry moves to head off a dystopian future
“You can’t simply command a welder who just lost his job and has a family of four to become an AI TensorFlow expert,” said Mr. Ocko, managing partner at Data Collective.
.. Among the ideas circulating are giving displaced workers tax credits to own robots or other technology that replaces them. Others have proposed new kinds of insurance or expanding the social safety net, along with expanding job-skills training
.. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report predicted that automation will place 38% of the U.S. labor force at high risk in the next 15 years.
.. “You’re talking an almost 10x decrease in price for services like that,” Mr. Harpalani said. “That’s happening in every single service: legal, financial, security. Prices are going to drop so substantially that people who couldn’t see a dermatologist will have one that’s software-enabled.”
.. “At the end of the day I’d rather have a future with free housing or free basics for everyone in the world instead of hanging onto a few (traditional) jobs.”
.. Others in tech such as Bill Gates have weighed in, saying that companies using automation or robots should be taxed.
.. His other ideas: community college curricula should adjust every 6 to 12 months based on economic changes; government programs focus on new growth jobs categories; and tax credits to foster growth in industries that are harder to automate.
.. “There are plenty of forms of work society needs: elder care, teachers. You don’t need to look to the future. Just solve that now.”