A World Without Work?
The evolution of work has been a subject of interest as far as we humans are concerned. The historical analysis of the same is complex and difficult to summarize and maybe ChatGpt might do a better job at it. Do not worry I am not going to do that. Suffice to say that we have evolved from the nomadic hunter gatherer foraging for food to becoming domesticated in the age of agriculture, harnessing animals to do one's work. These then gave way to the local artisans using some tools and machines maybe in the Iron age. Industrial Revolution created more machines and assembly line factories with major human exploitation. However, with increased automation threatening to replace humans in production, there started the whole business of service industries, financial institutions, banks and companies to regulate and manage commerce and trade. Transportation, tourism, healthcare, Engineering, Information Technology, Entertainment, Communication, Education, Legal, Management, Administration, politician, social worker, Activist etc all have become opportunities to work. So many professions are available and the bewildering number of avenues have opened up and are available for consideration. So then why do we feel that there maybe a future without work? Every new invention or innovation like the steam engine, computer, robots etc. spawned a series of what I call protestors and prophets of doom proclaiming doomsday. But soon new jobs started coming up. So are we saying a world without work is inconceivable?
One thing is becoming more and more clear that with every step of positive progress towards better efficiency, production increasing manifold but the number of people needed to produce more and more became lesser and lesser. But these were still not a problem as human needs and demand for newer products also increased. Large populations created more demand and the unequal geographical spread meant that sometimes there was a shortage of somethings overall but surplus of the same in certain areas. The problem may remain since physical presence is needed to perform work of some kinds, but the ability to the work from remote locations and the replacement of man by machine makes the possibility of a world without work a reality.
The availability of time and leisure led to man's ability to contemplate and reflect and evolve to think about a world beyond the body, mind, intellect concept. A calm mind becomes a creative mind and this creative can concentrate on one thing at a time, therefore become consistent and finally create an atmosphere of cooperation and co existence. On the other hand one says an idle mind is a devils workshop. The difference between then and now is the two letter word Artificial Intelligence. When the computer using the speed of processing and availability of Large Learning Models can out think a human brain and do in seconds what would take days, weeks or months to do then what do we do sit on one's ego and say I will do things my way. Will any sane person want to drive a car to commute physically if the option of a driverless car is available which is capable of finding best route, speed, sense the road conditions and drive fast enough to reach destination with the least discomfort is available? The added feature is no accident. The answer will be a resounding "no".
The imagination is today incapable of visualizing a world without work because work itself is taken as a task to be completed for an organization or a system in a finite time. For many at the low level like unskilled or semi skilled labour it is a drudgery with minimum wages, no real respect nor any sense of fulfillment and these will easily be replaced by robots who will do this work faster, more efficiently and consistently. These persons will suffer unless they are given income without work for subsistence. If this is not given the damage that a hungry, frustrated person may inflict in terms of violent protest will be greater than the cost of universal basic income. The other possibility of wearable devices monitoring health and regulating food and supplements and releasing enough time to foster a culture of fitness and exercise will give healthy health spans rather life spans. Long healthy lives with no work and lots of time may mean that gaming apps and bizarre entertainment will become more in demand.Therefore the fact that Ambani senses this opportunity is not at all surprising. But as yet many professionals especially in health care felt that no treatment is possible without human intervention but if machines and robots become human and exhibit and express emotions too then humans can become dispensable.
Yet there is a possibility that like during Covid when there was lock down and families stayed at home, many of us rediscovered our social connections and family values. Suddenly, the spiritual values were rediscovered and there was a sense of peace and well being. Local communities sprung up and compared to those times where there was an atmosphere of fear of the unknown we may see a greater deepening of a good life and who knows the mythical promised Satyug may come up. The boost to education, work from home, parenting and productivity tools will be beneficial. Fantasy drugs, intoxicants and rave parties might ruin lives and create fresh problems in healthcare but AI will devise antidotes and the experiences of ecstasy may get artificially induced without bad effects.
Honestly, I think I may not find life without a job too bad if I can have a reason to live and give of myself to others. But the question of living a zero cost life and prosperity for all and the redundancy of action of all kinds creates a situation which appears surreal. Two books dealing with this are Life 3.0 and Zero Marginal Cost by Mark Tegmark and Jeremy Rifkin address these issues and maybe worth a reading. We need to prepare for the eventuality of losing ones job but we must be masters of our destiny.
Comments