I see all these articles talking about how automation is destination jobs, and they never seem to view it as a good thing.
Every moment, the sun outputs enough energy to do all the work we’ll ever need.
Automation will usher in humanities greatest achievement, the first human species capable of coaxing the universe to do its bidding without toiling over the mundane.
As a species, we need to revisit political systems which were tried but couldn’t work without high levels of automation, and identify a gradual path away from what we’re doing now towards a system where regular people might not be able to trade their effort and labor in exchange for anything, including money.
If people thought the aughts and 10s were wild and transformative, the biotech and AI advances of the 20s and 30s are going to blow them away.
Ian M. Banks wrote the Culture Series to explore these concepts, and so far Ray Kurzweils predictions seem to be on track. People should read up and start considering how we want to confront this now because it’s going to get weird and I’d rather skip as much dystopia as possible thank you very much.
Curiosity is the single most important attribute with which humans are born. More than a simple desire to discover or know things, curiosity is a powerful tool, like a scalpel or a searchlight. Curiosity changes us. It is also a way to effect change, perhaps even on a global level.