As the World Tweets, “On Point” Keeps it Real
A week of episodes spotlighting vital economic issues that are otherwise not garnering much attention.
During a roughly week-long stretch, the WBUR/NPR program “On Point” highlighted three topics that impact the lives and futures of all Americans: The urban/rural divide; autonomous vehicles and car ownership; and machine learning and artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the “main stream media” and “conservative media” focused on President Trump’s tweets about: The media. Thank you to On Point’s talented host Tom Ashbrook for giving your listeners thoughtful discussions on topics that will have a lasting impact on the economy and our lives.
I’ve been a fan of On Point and other current-events-driven shows on NPR like Fresh Air and 1A. I often wonder how our nation’s divided, sour mood would be improved by replacing the prime-time political trash-talk sessions on cable news with more thoughtful, respectful conversations like these. Surely that would be better, but unfortunately I doubt as much of an audience would tune in.
Fortunately, enough folks are listening to Ashbook and On Point to keep them and their podcasts on air and in business. The podcasts of the cited episodes are still available, with links below. If you are tired of all the aforementioned partisan bickering and posturing over health care and trade and immigration — in between hot takes from the far left and right on every presidential tweet storm—take a listen to these three hours of conversation. They take on even bigger-picture trends that will affect all of those issues from an even higher level. Trump and the media are at war, but they are allied in their widespread ignorance of technological and economic trends that are moving on with or without them, at lightning speed.
From June 26, 2017: Machine Over Mind in a New Economy.
Robots moving deeper into the American workplace — how much decision-making will we turn over to machines?
A fascinating discussion that is mostly exciting but also legitimately scary, about machine learning and artificial intelligence. The MOST frightening moment of the episode is when they play a bit of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaking at a conference and stating that he doesn’t think AI will be a big deal for another 501–100 years. (Ladies and gentlemen: Your Trump Administration.)
Ashbrook plays the role of devil’s advocate on behalf of workers and jobs that may be replaced by intelligent machines, while his guests sing the praises of a fast-growing, AI-driven economy that will dole out plenty of opportunity for everyone. Take a listen … There is a common theme in all three of these discussions involving in increasing gap between the coastal/Silicon Valley/urban elites and less-educated, rural workers. In this conversation, the AI advocates herald the dawn of a new era of American growth that will produce “jobs we’ve never thought of yet” that work alongside the machines while “old-school” jobs get replaced.
Team Trump and their followers are entrenching themselves in simply keeping the old-school jobs around for as long as possible. This seems like a strategy that is only going to get those followers hurt when it ultimately fails. Both media tribes — conservative and “main stream”/liberal — could also stand to educate their viewers more on this phenomenon, even if they apply their own spin.
From June 23, 2017: Pulling Out of Car Ownership.
Is car ownership going the way of the horse and buggy? We’ll look at how ride sharing and driverless cars are turning the way we move.
A similar episode to the June 26 topic, this one focused on autonomous vehicles and how new transportation technology models will impact the car industry, from sales and ownership to manufacturing and jobs. Again, this appears to be an approaching tsunami that the federal government and the national media are not talking enough about.
This discussion brings together some different viewpoints, some of which I found to be overly optimistic as I have been a bit of a skeptic about how quickly our driverless future will happen (not Mnuchin-level skeptical, mind you). Take a listen … How refreshing would it be to have the administration and congress engaged in ways to help transition and foster job growth in this field, rather than turn a blind eye (or allow themselves to be blinded by Trump’s distractions)?
From June 22, 2017: Can Startups Share Their Big City Success?
The unaffordable urban paradise. Richard Florida says that startups are now tearing cities apart.
(Probably) inadvertently the first episode in the week’s “trilogy” on this theme: Economic growth in the technology sector is happening in — and being driven by — coastal and urban areas. How will rural areas, the shrinking middle class and middle-America benefit from this growth?
The “big cities” episode was another fascinating one. It will be interesting to watch the landscape of the country change in the next decade, as parking structures and retail shopping malls go empty and un-used. We began as a rural country, then became a suburban country after World War II. While our urban cities were important civic and cultural centers during these two phases, we were never an “urban” country. If fact, most of our flagship cities quickly became centers for blight and crime. Only now are they making a comeback as culture, technology and demographics push our economic epicenters closer still into the very centers of our communities.
In all three discussions, the sentiment seems to be this: The tech “elites” talk a good game when it comes to creating opportunity for “everyone,” but “everyone” — the everyman, many of whom voted for Trump — is skeptical.
The AI advocates, the autonomous-car-guys, they all believe they’ll generate more than enough growth to go around — but they qualify that optimism with a slightly veiled notion that folks are going to need to embrace change: Get re-trained, be creative about shifting your job focus; look for ways to leverage entrepreneurship. For example, if you run a combo used car lot/repair shop, get ready to re-tool as a Waymo Subscription service center. It’s not as cut-and-dried as every factory worker needing to go out and learn to code — but every blue collar (and white collar) worker should have more “situational awareness” of ways their job could be automated, and how to adapt.
