What will kill us?

I’m fascinated by the coming revolution. The one where we let computers destroy us at all our inefficiencies.

I don’t have to know much about AI or machine learning to know it’s a tidal wave that will alter the landscape.

Self-driving cars is the current hot topic. It sounds futuristic but we’re close. In a decade or two, when a human-piloted vehicle is in the minority, the auto industry will have upended.

The whole point of self-driving cars is to end inefficiency. Less traffic, fewer accidents, and elimination of fatalities.

When that happens, every auto-related industry will reduce to the smallest operational need. Insurance, mechanics, fuel stations, to name a few.

And the auto industry is one example. There isn’t an industry off limits. Financial services. Education. Health care. Entertainment. Logistics. Manufacturing. Whatever it is you do.

And when millions of people are out of work because our tech makes them obsolete, what do we do then?

Sure, for some time they’ll be artificially held up through regulations. We can’t lay off millions of workers at once. But, it’ll come to pass. Capitalism and corporate greed will demand it and our politicians will fold.

In our lifetimes, our world is going to look very different. I don’t know that we’re going to kill ourselves off because we’re no longer necessary.

But, we are going to lay off our family members and our neighbors. We’re going to end careers. And, we’ll need some plans besides hoping everyone is learning to code in their spare time.