![\"human-vs-robot\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/human-vs-robot-300x198.jpg\")
As you may or may not have noticed, I\u2019ve been on a technology kick the past few weeks, writing about the amazing things that technology has brought to our industry, our work, and our lives.<\/p>\nAs you may or may not have noticed, I\u2019ve been on a technology kick the past few weeks, writing about the amazing things that technology has brought to our industry, our work, and our lives.<\/p>\n
After reading this book review in last Sunday\u2019s New York Times<\/em> Book Review section, there\u2019s one other thing that technology is bringing and that\u2019s obsolescence.<\/p>\n The book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future<\/em> by Martin Ford, reviewed by Barbara Ehrenreich author of Nickel and Dimed<\/em> paints an unsettling view of the future.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t read the book yet, but was intrigued enough by the review to download it to my Kindle.<\/p>\n As Ehrenreich writes in her review, \u201cMany companies decided that \u2018ever advancing information technology\u2019 allows them to operate successfully without rehiring the people they laid off. And there should be no doubt that technology is advancing in the direction of full unemployment.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds that \u201cFord offers little hope that emerging technologies will eventually generate new forms of employment in the way that blacksmiths yield to autoworkers in the early 20th<\/sup> century. He predicts that new industries will \u2018rarely, if ever, be highly labor-intensive,\u2019 pointing to companies like YouTube and Instagram, which are characterized by \u2018tiny workforces\u2019 and huge valuations and revenues.\u201d<\/p>\n On another front, and even closer to what\u2019s going on in our world, Ehrenreich observes that \u201c3-D printing is poised to make a mockery of manufacturing as we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bringing things closer to my world, journalism, when Ehrenreich writes, \u201cParticularly terrifying to me, computer programs can now write clear, publishable articles, and, as Ford reports, Wired magazine quotes an expert\u2019s prediction that within about a decade 90 percent of news articles will be computer generated.\u201d<\/p>\n If I wrote mostly news articles, I\u2019d be terrified too, but I don\u2019t. Still, I am more than a little concerned about technology\u2019s impact on our future.<\/p>\n For those of you currently selling technology how soon before you too are deemed obsolete as robots or computer programs take over your job and sell to another robot or computer program? Sounds like science fiction, but is it? Consider that where we are now was once considered science fiction.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be revisiting this topic in the coming weeks as I read Ford\u2019s book.<\/p>\n I can tell you right now, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m going to like what I\u2019m reading.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As you may or may not have noticed, I\u2019ve been on a technology kick the past few weeks, writing about the amazing things that technology has brought to our industry, our work, and our lives. After reading this book review in last Sunday\u2019s New York Times Book Review section, there\u2019s one other thing that technology is bringing and that\u2019s obsolescence. The book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford, reviewed by Barbara Ehrenreich author of Nickel and Dimed paints an unsettling view of the future. I haven\u2019t read the book yet, but was intrigued enough by the review to download it to my Kindle. As Ehrenreich writes in her review, \u201cMany companies decided that \u2018ever advancing information technology\u2019 allows them to operate successfully without rehiring the people they laid off. And there should be no doubt that technology is advancing in the direction of full unemployment.\u201d She adds that \u201cFord offers little hope that emerging technologies will eventually generate new forms of employment in the way that blacksmiths yield to autoworkers in the early 20th century. He predicts that new industries will \u2018rarely, if ever, be highly labor-intensive,\u2019 pointing to companies like YouTube and Instagram, which are characterized by \u2018tiny workforces\u2019 and huge valuations and revenues.\u201d On another front, and even closer to what\u2019s going on in our world, Ehrenreich observes that \u201c3-D printing is poised to make a mockery of manufacturing as we know it.\u201d Bringing things closer to my world, journalism, when Ehrenreich writes, \u201cParticularly terrifying to me, computer programs can now write clear, publishable articles, and, as Ford reports, Wired magazine quotes an expert\u2019s prediction that within about a decade 90 percent of news articles will be computer generated.\u201d If I wrote mostly news articles, I\u2019d be terrified too, but I don\u2019t. Still, I am more than a little concerned about technology\u2019s impact on our future. For those of you currently selling technology how soon before you too are deemed obsolete as robots or computer programs take over your job and sell to another robot or computer program? Sounds like science fiction, but is it? Consider that where we are now was once considered science fiction. I\u2019ll be revisiting this topic in the coming weeks as I read Ford\u2019s book. I can tell you right now, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m going to like what I\u2019m reading. Thanks for reading. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1638],"tags":[116,328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12479,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477\/revisions\/12479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}