In The Age Of Intelligent Machines, What Are Humans For?

Why robots will take our jobs, why that’s okay, and the reason its preferable.

It’s been a sneaking suspicion at the back of our collective unconscious – sooner or later a robot will be taking your job.

From blue collar work to information work and service-based workers, all occupations are fair game.

And when all is said and done, we will be sitting on a beach attended to by our robot helpers, who also perform surgeries, innovate new processes, and even make art. With that said, what will there be left for humans to do?

Who Wants A Job Anyways?

Many people grumble under their breaths as they clock in to their 9 to 5. Funny then, those same people aim to protect their jobs from automation.

Many people are merely clinging onto their livelihoods. You can’t blame them. It can be hard to imagine how to earn a living. What people fail to see is the bigger picture.

Once automation is regularly integrated into the workforce, society will most likely already shift into a new economy. A new economy where human workers are more like overseers of robot workers and automation services.

Robots will be doing the jobs we don’t want to do, like repetitive tasks. Humans will be free from monotonous chores to focus on engaging, fun, and creative work.

Robot Responsibility

There’s no beating around the bush, objects that have the autonomy to make decisions need to have a moral compass.

That moral compass can be programmed from top-down (the system follows embedded rules like like Kant’s Categorical Imperative, utilitarianism, the Ten Commandments, or Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws). Or robots can learn the same way humans learn – by being exposed to different experiences.

Basically, the more autonomy a machine has, the more responsibility it will have which, in turn, requires advanced knowledge and sensitivity to moral considerations and ethics.

The final frontier to bridge the gap between humans and robot helpers is when humans are able to trust a robot’s beneficial actions.

What Are Humans For?

This is the Digital Lifestyle at its most extreme – literally any repetitive, rote task will be fulfilled by machines.

It can be hard to imagine what life will be like when we do not need to put up with anything boring.

What will work look like?

It will be hard to imagine in the same way an 1800’s farmer would not be able to imagine the highest paying jobs of today involve staring at a small screen and pushing buttons.

“When robots and automation do our most basic work, making it relatively easy for us to be fed, clothed, and sheltered, then we are free to ask, “What are humans for?” Industrialization did more than just extend the average human lifespan. It led a greater percentage of the population to decide that humans were meant to be ballerinas, full-time musicians, mathematicians, athletes, fashion designers, yoga masters, fan-fiction authors, and folks with one-of-a kind titles on their business cards. With the help of our machines, we could take up these roles; but of course, over time, the machines will do these as well. We’ll then be empowered to dream up yet more answers to the question “What should we do?” It will be many generations before a robot can answer that.”

Word Up: Content Lifestyle

As we have seen, living the Digital Lifestyle involves embracing the help of our robot helpers. Rather than feel threatened, their regular incorporation into society will give us freedom of time. Time free from the dreaded monotony of a job. And time to pursue more meaningful, fun, and engaging uses of our time.

sources: time, thetechnews, yalescientific, wired

This article is letter (I) of our “Digi Lifestyle" series where we write an article for each letter of the phrase. “Digital Lifestyle" Before anyone realized, we all became immersed and intertwined to our digital devices and internet connection. By laying out a theme related to the Digital Lifestyle everyday, we learned valuable insights into the mindsets, behaviors, and norms that sprout from living so intimately with technology.