Humanity Becomes Obsolete

 


That’s it, stop having kids.

The robots are coming. More precisely, they’re already here. Simulating politeness, they wave back at us in shopping malls. They take on the lousy, dangerous, monotonous jobs, changing the dirty diapers of our aging society. And that’s all good.

But what will we humans do next?

We could all write blogs, but will the world need ten billion bloggers? Because once mass production of robots begins, millions of them will roll out of factories every single year.

We thought technological progress would first threaten physical labor, but it quickly became clear that graphic designers, programmers, and writers are in greater danger than those shoveling dirt. Of course, they won’t have to wait much longer either—soon, a humanoid robot will politely ask for their shovel and take over the task.

Is this bad or good?

Neither. It’s exactly what we make of it.

One extreme—almost utopian—is a world where millions of robots anticipate our every wish, allowing us to do whatever we want. A fantastic future.

But how will we make a living?
Will we receive the added value produced by the robot shoveling dirt directly into our bank accounts?

So far, there’s no sign of that happening.
Then we’ll just retrain for something else. That’s how it’s always been during industrial revolutions. The weaving machine took away many jobs, but even more new ones were created. Masses of people are no longer needed to cultivate the land, but agriculture has found easier jobs for its workers. There’s nothing to worry about.

How many industrial revolutions have we had so far?

Three. Steam, electricity, and information technology. Each one created a better world. Yes, there were losers, but overall, humanity benefited from these advancements.

Three times. Does that guarantee the fourth will be the same?

Hardly. If we benefited three times, it means we benefited three times. It offers no guarantee that it will happen again.

The other extreme is that robots take away the jobs of billions of people. We won’t be able to create value because machines will always be able to do it better, faster, and cheaper than us. Production efficiency will skyrocket.

But who will these billions of robots produce for if there’s no one left to buy their products?

I fear that world leaders haven’t given these questions much thought yet. “The market will sort it out,” say the capitalists. Just like how the fight against climate change is going great. Oh, wait—it’s not.

What do you think?

Are we heading toward utopian prosperity, where we drink ourselves to oblivion while partying with sex robots—no worries, because surgical bots are already replacing our livers with 3D-printed organs, free of charge?

Or will we be pushed aside, wired with a brain interface constantly feeding us dopamine, and if we dare resist the new world order, a robot will come and shove our own willingly surrendered shovel into our backs?

____________

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Thank you 🙏

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