I thought it would be fitting to make this post given the recent amount of fighting over the bot situation. My views might be seen as a tiny bit extreme but I honestly think the upcoming mass automation movement is something different than anything we have ever seen happen in history before.

What is the Mass Automation Movement?

It is pretty self explanatory, but basically it is the idea that in the next few decades a large portion of jobs currently done by humans will be replaced by machines and software. Specifically, the machines that are going to replace these jobs are not going to need any type of supervisor or human being to run. In fact Oxford released a study claiming that around 50% of jobs currently done by humans won’t exist in the next 20 years. That number is staggering and if it becomes a reality, the government will literally have to rethink how to run an economy. The massive amounts of unemployment would literally leave people with nothing they can do, or are qualified to do.

Sure they can go back to college and reeducate themselves, but most likely if the unemployment rate rose 50% the sectors that they went and trained in still would be overloaded. There is a type of unemployment called structural unemployment, which results from changes in the economy and people usually having to switch to different jobs or reeducate themselves in order to get a new job. In the US it is currently estimated the real rate is 5%, with automation you are talking about increasing that rate to 50%. Even if all those people went and reeducated themselves , there just wouldn’t be enough jobs to go around.

Hypothetical What Could Happen

In economics we are taught that when jobs get replaced its usually good because it creates new industries and more jobs prop up around that industry, but it doesn’t seem like this would work in that case. The amount of jobs created by the automation field would be far less than would be needed to replace the jobs it is destroying. Job shortages are going to leave people upset and angry at companies and the people responsible for their unemployment. Job shortages will also lead to riots if people can’t afford to feed or take care of their families and aren’t being taken care up properly by the government. The tax structure in the country will drastically have to change or there will be a war. For example most places in Europe like Greece and Spain only have an unemployment rate of around 20% and their government and people are at each other’s throats over lack of aid and the inability to work.

The country is eventually going to get split into the rich and the poor. The middle class is going to disappear almost entirely. Those who have the ability to invest in companies that are creating and manufacturing the machines are going to reap the rewards and live comfortably, while those who don’t are going to be decimated. The only solution will be for the government to step up financial aid to those affected by automation, or eventually people are going to start a class war. The rich won’t sympathize with the poor and our already extremely high wealth gap problem is going to get worse. The entire system could have the potential of failing. There are things the government could do force employment such as making sure all self driving vehicles have a driver just in case, but many would argue it would hinder innovation.

I believe that our country has been becoming more split on the wealth gap over time and the automation movement could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. On one end im interested to see the future and how automation will work , but only the other hand im afraid of what it could bring. If I had to bet I would put my money on the movement disrupting everyone’s way of life for possibly the worse if a class war starts.

If you are interested in the subject watch the video below called Humans Need Not Apply by CCP Grey

• Calaber24p