Great article. There will be other economic impacts as well. 4 million driving jobs will evaporate over the next 20 years, along with about ~10 million related jobs, including truck stops, mechanics for gas-powered vehicles, car insurance employees, the entire supply chain for human-driven vehicles and transport.
Toll booths will all turn into EZ-pass lanes.
The impact on safety will be so huge it will also affect jobs in the health industry.
We’re talking about at least $430 Billion worth of jobs evaporating within the next two decades.
That’s a whole lot of people flooding the job market at the same time.
In the mean time, literally every other industry will also be facing massive disruption from other kinds of automation (more AI).
There will also be huge job opportunities in high growth companies providing new services, but they will be more efficient. They’ll do a lot more with a lot less labor. Instagram had only 13 employees when it was acquired.
A small AI team can replace millions of knowledge workers in fields like medical diagnostics & legal.
All that doom and gloom out there… an entire new virtual economy is about to spring up out of nowhere in the augmented reality market.
New market places for digital goods. Software, virtual fashion, decoration, personalization, new forms of entertainment… the possibilities are endless. Every aspect of the human experience will be utterly transformed by it. Maybe that can help offset job losses.
We’re approaching the convergence of several exponential curves in tech progress.
I have no idea how it will play out. One thing is certain through — it’s going to be an exciting and scary ride.
