CIFAR
As society looks to the future and the potential of AI and robotics, CIFAR Senior Fellow and MIT economist Daron Acemoğlu reminds us that we must first look to the past.
Acemoglu delves into the history of technological disruption, the current economic landscape and the complex questions facing policy makers. The David Dodge CIFAR lecture was presented in partnership with CSPC (Canadian Science Policy Centre) on June 13, 2017.
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The experts who talk about the "Robotics, AI, and the Future of Work", very much in need of
a clear historical perspective, scientific vision and an open-minded approach to understand this issue. THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN THE A.I. TECHNOLOGY WILL RENDER MOST HUMAN LABOR OBSOLETE, SOONER THAN LATER. The AI robots will become the new world working class of the future.
In my opinion, the rapid progress in the AI ROBOT automation provides the great historical opportunity that the humankind has been waiting since its beginning. To emancipate from the drudgery of human labor. The SERVITUDE, enslavement, humiliation that the majority of the population compelled to undergo by the minority in order to earn their living i.e. wages, salaries or income. Now, with the progress in the AI technology we can gradually get rid and finally abolish the human labor for wage system and replace it with an equitable income sharing system. It can begin with the Unconditional or Guaranteed Income popularly known as the Universal Basic Income or the UBI.
My book titled “An Alternative to Marxian Scientific Socialism: The Theory Reduction in Working Hours (RWH); ….” Published in the year 1981. Today I rename it as Zero Work Theory (ZWT) More of its details in the links https://bit.ly/2Id6eL0, http://bit.ly/2eARyEx http://bit.ly/2nR4MAP
The gist of the theory is; “Labor” or work is the compulsion on humans (originally imposed by nature) to obtain their means of subsistence. The "human labor relation" is the ROOT-CAUSE OF EXPLOITATION on man by man. It results it all kinds of subjugation, injustice, inequality and corruption in the hitherto human society.
According to the RWH Theory, the AI ROBOTS are the EMBODIMENT of the mankind’s million years of historical struggle, technological endeavor, and dream to overcome their labor/work for SURVIVAL. Now it had culminated into complete replacement of the human labor, jobs or employment.
Its first stage began with the early humans primitive tools used as the replacement of their body, limbs in their day to day work for survival. It reached many levels of mechanical development and sophistication continued for hundreds and thousands years of ancient to medieval history. The second stage began at around 18th century with the advent of steam engines electrical motors merging with the machine tools popularly known as the Industrial Revolution . It most importantly replaced the human muscle power in the human labor equation with the unimaginable inanimate energy force unparalleled in the history. These machine tool although able to do the hard labor of hundreds of thousands of workers nevertheless always needed the humans intelligent brain cognitive power to perform, conduct the given work or duty.
The third and final stage began with the advent of Semiconductors or the microchip revolution. The Exponential growth of the microprocessors started the era known as the Artificial Intelligence. The 21st century AI robots automation started rapidly replacing humans (biological) intelligence with its human brain like neurological machine deep learning algorithms. AI today is getting far more superior to the humans biological brain in the performance of all human work. Its cognitive learning ability can supersede any intelligent human brain enabling the robots to render every “paid” human labor completely redundant or obsolete.
Now, the only way to progress towards the mankind’s destiny is; A Gradual Reduction in Working Hours aiming towards the complete abolition of the Wage labor i.e. jobs. However, considering the failure or stagnation of the reduction of working hour movement in the last decades and the present worlds rapid AI exponential technological progress and disruption, I realize that a guaranteed Basic Income or the Equitable Universal Basic Income fulfills the final objectives of the RWHT. Nevertheless, my views on the UBI not the same as many of the UBI proponent, who see it as mainly as an incentive to the poor workers to work more productively with the additional income and to supplement to their wages. I argue UBI needs to act as a complete replacement to the wage-labor. “UBI SHOULD ALLOW THE PEOPLE TO BECOME ECONOMICALLY INDEPENDENT, TOTALLY FREE FROM THE DRUDGERY OF WORK, OUT OF THE SERVITUDE, HUMILIATION OF WAGE-LABOR IF THEY WANT. This will also encourage a substantial portion of the laboring population to quit their jobs, which will positively result in the increase in the employment, wages thereby further rapid AI automation in the entire industry. The recommendation of an adequate amount of UBI without having the compulsion of wage-labor, mean ZERO WORK for the individuals which can achieve the overall Reduction in Working Hours in the society, thefinal GOAL of the RWH Theory. So now I prefer the name “Zero Work Theory” (ZWT). I have explained more about this theory in my blog.
The principle behind the ZWT is that the fruits of the progress in the science and technological in the human society should not be appropriated or concentrated in the hands of only a few but it is their historical responsibility and every people concerned, to see to it that the benefit should be equally shared among all members of the society IN ABUNDANCE. This is inevitable future, the elite class should understand what is coming, whether they like it or not.
Universal Basic Income will strengthen the economy.
https://ceosforbasicincome.ca
Mr.Acemoğlu,thank you for that inspiring and informative speech.