Autonomous Technology: Exacerbating Inequality?

Technology was supposed to be the great equalizer. Will it renege on its promises?

It’s easy to get swept up in the wonderful madness of CES and possibilities of a future where robots and automation make our lives easier. But it’s also important to remember that these technologies come at a cost — some peoples’ lives stand to get significantly harder before they feel the positive effects. That’s assuming that, as a society, we take steps to ensure they’re felt by everyone.

According to AI-expert Kai Fu Lee, 40% of the world’s jobs may be automated within the next 15 or so years. This includes both white and blue collar work, but realistically we’re much closer to autonomous vehicles and robo cafes (like the one near our office in San Francisco) than robotic lawyers and doctors. (Yes, robotic surgery exists. No, it hasn’t reached the point where it’s better than human hands, though it does cost more.) Workers in the service industry are at particular risk. According to The Atlantic:

“Over the past few years, the service industry has started hacking worker schedules by outsourcing human duties to machines. Automated experiments include robots that take over bartending and salad-making duties on cruise ships and in airports, and that deliver food to hotel guests’ rooms. More hotels are offering automated check-in via app or even — in China — via facial recognition. Alexa-enabled speakers in hotel roomslet guests ask for sightseeing tips and order toothbrushes without talking to staff.”

This is partly why the World Economic Forum believes that women stand to be disproportionately affected by automation. In fact, they already cite it as a factor in their finding that, proportionately speaking, there are fewer women than men entering the workforce. It’s a one-two-punch, because the answer to automated-away jobs is retraining, and much of the future’s economic growth will continue to come from STEM fields, where women are underrepresented. Looking at AI itself, women only account for 22% of the industry.

The automation wave is already underway, and due to technological advances, it’s expected to crash over us more quickly than previous tech revolutions. So what’s the answer? Many tech leaders have called for a universal basic income, which would guarantee every individual a stipend. Taxes on jobs done by robots, similar to what employers would pay for human workers, would provide funding — but would it stifle innovation? Would it ever become politically acceptable? Only time will tell, but one thing’s clear: we’re going to need to do something.