I love the optimism, but we are a long way off of this Star Trek-esque utopia. The real issue is the powers that be. Old money is a real force and suppresses and co-opts anything that jeopardizes it’s influence. That is very real and I don’t see AI or automation making thew average person’s life better until the wealthy and the largest companies (having the most resources) start using their influence to bring about this change rather than shore it up for themselves. Even the new breed of billionaires like Bezo’s and Musk are not going to let their wealth and power erode. Hence, this paradigm is hundreds of years away from being realized if it ever does at all.

American Capitalist history is littered with inventions and ideas that either get shelved indefinitely or squashed entirely because they are not money makers for the oligopolies that control market shares. They gain governmental support for this through financial influence of political campaigns to the right people to champion their cause. New players seeking to change markets don’t have that luxury and rarely are able to do so except during the rare convergence of technology and timing. And when they do, they become part of the establishment. When was the last time a tech billionaire bequeathed his creation to humanity for the sake of humanity without making a buck? How often does that actually happen? And what happens when it does? Regulations. These are barriers to market entry, bought and paid for by those that stand to lose significant market share. Why? Because somehow getting free stuff is un-American.

One success was the Apple Computers that gave way to the tech industry and the .COMs. Bitcoin could lead the way to a new economy as well, but cryptocurrencies and blockchain are struggling against traditional money. Even in history, Nikolai Tesla, who invented AC current (which was safer than Edison’s DC) had a prototype for sending electricity across the globe where people would have FREE electricity. After several lawsuits by competitors and a suspicious fire that burned down his headquarters he was “defeated” and his vision destroyed.

This is the world in which we live. Only an ex machina deus can radically alter the way we think of ourselves — massive civil war, alien contact, world-wide, population reducing plague, etc. Otherwise we have to wait…wait for all those special, unexpected convergences of technology and timing to tip in the favor of the common man.

Point is, technology by itself won’t save us, improve our lives or usher in a new world order unless those that control ensure that it is used for the good of all humanity. We are seeing the corrupting force of Capitalism at work today more than ever. Reduced regulations on fair trade, safe consumer lending, increased, tariffs on renewable energy tech, ecology-destroying fossil fuel mining, and re-investment in dying industries (like coal). Why would we embrace policies that hold us back? We don’t. Follow the money and you’ll see where and why it occurs even thought it works against society. Automation will ensure that labor jobs will continue to decrease (as with coal mining, manufacturing and, eventually, transportation). AI will eventually reduce the decision making of all jobs from customer service to stock market forecasting. While technology could open people up to new opportunities that advance science and the arts, we as a culture, and maybe even species, are not ready for the job void created by increased tech. Technology is growing faster than we can create new jobs vs the ones we will lose. You might even call this the “Tech-Bubble.”