BookSpeak: Rise of the Robots

Are you ready to relinquish your job to a robot? It may be happening already. #BookSpeak #ThinkSpeak

My read of the month is 'The Rise of the Robots' by Martin Ford. It is about the impact of automation and globalisation on the job market. In essence is describes the third industrial revolution in which robots are not only destroying traditional blue-collar jobs but white-collar jobs as well. In the short-term the future looks rather bleak. Unless our politicians, sociologists and economists get together to build a new future there will trouble ahead. What kind of trouble? I suspect civil unrest and rejection of the status quo. Already automation is 'hollowing out the middle', i.e. the middle classes are shrinking as the race to top and bottom continues. The inequality gap with the rich getting richer (winner takes all) and the poor getting poorer can be explained in simple terms by the impact automation is having on the world economy. One can argue that Brexit, and a shift to extreme politics in most countries, is the first signs of this civil unrest. At personal level I have also realised that medicine, and the practice of medicine, is not immune to rise of robotics and automation. The question is how are we as medical practitioners going to respond to the challenge? The only way to protect our jobs going forward is to be creative; general creativity is the one frontier that artificial intelligence will take time to crack. However, as creativity is in the eye of the beholder and it will only be a matter of time before machines are churning-out creative products. In fact, Ford describes several examples of computer generated art and music that is able to fool the human eye. It won't be long before digital life becomes a reality; the avatars will have personalities and a sense of humour. 

Rise of the Robots is essential reading for all; that's if you want a glimpse of our 'brave new world'.