Andrew McAfee: Are droids taking our jobs?

Robots and algorithms are getting good at jobs like building cars, writing articles, translating -- jobs that once required a human. So what will we humans do for work? Andrew McAfee walks through recent labor data to say: We ain't seen nothing yet. But then he steps back to look at big history, and comes up with a surprising and even thrilling view of what comes next.

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[EclecticSceptic]

No that's nonsense. The reason people starve is because of the way society is organised, not because we don't have enough food. There is more than enough food producing capacity on Earth. It's a matter of using better agricultural practices and making sure the food makes it to everyone. We live on a planet where in some places people have so much food they throw out half of it, while others starve to death. That's not because 'we don't grow enough food'. Bullshit. How could that even be true.

[aldojr86]

Robots doing are jobs sounds great but not in a Capitalistic society where one needs a job to eat. I think Jacque Fresco's Venus Project lays out a decent idea for how future society should be.

[dawnrazornephilim]

I am too pessimistic to give this a like.

[EclecticSceptic]

Social norms in the U.S. must change, at the very least because the obesity epidemic will destroy them. The virtue of thrift and efficiency have to be broadly held. We have become very entitled feeling and wasteful in 'the West'. There is enough food to feed everyone, but if we all turn vegan there will be even more, not to mention all the health benefits and the suffering eliminated. I'm a vegan myself.

[io007a]

man constructions require nonrenewable materials, yes gdp measures activity but if the investment fail you are poorer than before not richer, so public investments are very risky not a solution at all, the best way to tackle unemployment is to reduce the working hours with at least half of the productivity increase,let's say in a decade productivity grows by 50%, so reduce working hours with 25%, and so on.

[io007a]

man the money system will end with the automation, look at star trek do you hear anything about money? it;s like the spaceship , we don;t have any idea how to make it but we are sure that we will have it in the future, same with money we know that today is a neccesarely evil bot in the future it will be absurd to have it, not only technology changes but also political social and economic systems will change, u think stupid people like bush or berlusconi or obama will be forever elected?

[io007a]

yup i belive that the system may change when automation reaches a point where all jobs with no profesional or moral returns are automated, the mercenaries today that do jobs in which nowone thanks them nowone shakes they're hand for doing a great job need money to do this type of work because there is no other benefit, but after theese automate people can still work 4-5 hours 4 days a week in doing real great jobs and the rest will just have time to pursue they're hobbies.

[io007a]

that;s because people are stupid in masses even though individualy may not be, the more they work the less they get paid all thoughether, but people look at it individual i put more hours i get payed more, yes today but in long term because of supply and demand wages are going down, stupid people were demonstrating against wall-street, and higher taxes for the rich when in fact the simplest way to tax the rich is to reduce the working week first to 35 hours than 32 than 28.

[io007a]

it depends man if everyone would like to eat like in america we can;t feed all the people, if we all turn vegan yes we can feed more than 30 billion people,to make 1 kilo of meat u need at least 8-9 kilos of vegetables, so that;s why in resources 4% of world pop eats 20%.of the food, i think nowone resonable could think that we can produce 5 times more food than we produce today, otherwise yes the economic system prevents people from eating decent all around the world.

[a reyes]

mcafee is to awefully I personaly know will never buy I paid 70 dollars but make pc  a junk so bad so slow freeze and...

[ehpl]

jeeze they can have my flipping job - progress and tech are meant to free us from labour yet we work like dogs for debt for the best years of our lives - detached from our families, the death of communities and tiny minority of rich psychopaths running amok