TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CREATING A CEMETRY OF LOST LIVLIHOODS

In future if many do not get a job or do not even get called for an interview, Amelia and Watson may be blamed.

Amelia speaks twenty languages and can read and memorise a hundred film scripts in seconds. Watson has defeated many a quiz champions by huge margins.

It is obvious that prospects with these type of qualities can qualify thumbs down in any interview. Only that they are not humans. They are artificial intelligence software created by the tech bigwigs. Who can do multiple jobs at alacrity that will outmatch hundreds of brilliant engineers put together.

Robotics mixed with artificial intelligence is already wiping out huge number of outsourced basic jobs in Europe and US. Europe learnt its lesson hard when China flooded their market with cheap products. Many European businesses suffered due to the high cost of manufacturing in Europe due to the relatively huge cost of labour. Now the tables are getting turned back. Cutting it short many a jobs in flesh and blood will be replaced by codes and machines!!.

The web based selling platforms have now started selling also services on their platforms. Overall there is going to be lot of better ‘expertise discovery’ happening more efficiently through these companies. So first it was the turn of the small business to get hurt but now also the blue collar jobs. One may argue these platforms will help in better job discovery and more employment. The counter argument to it will be when more information efficiency is attained there will be also some resource reduction.

It is true that technology and net usually deliver more efficiency and create growth in business. But there is a certain amount of replacement happening with these and the problem is when the job creating is at a slower pace than the job destruction. The symptoms show that world is at the cross of this inflection point.

It is not that all on a sudden the roads are going to be filled with driver less cars driven by Google, but these successful demonstrations signal the extremes to which the things can go.

The bad news is all these are happening when the commodity markets are going through a bad period. So now all the positive sounds are going to be negative noises about the BRICKS..

There will be challenge for countries like India where huge number of young people are joining the workforce. Today, two-thirds of India’s population is under the national average of 26. One billion jobs need to be in market by 2022.

The impact of technology is much deeper than we think and has entered all segments. Machines and chemicals are replacing increasingly agricultural labour in all parts of the third world. So long as they were absorbed in the booming housing and real estate segments it was ok. But the problem starts when the spending is cut down by the young population impacted by technology and internet. Here is where instead of benefits now pain starts trickling down.

Please do let us hear you at indussprouts@gmail.com