(This post is part of the Sinai and Synapses Discussion Forum, a collection of perspectives on specific topics. It is part of our Fall 2014 series, “Are We Using Technology, or is Technology Using Us?“)I go to Target a lot. I get diapers, or groceries, or clothes. But every so often, I have to buy something that’s not on my usual list, and since Target is a huge store, I sometimes need to find an employee to show me where, say, the humidifiers are.
There’s only one problem — I often can’t find an employee, either.
Why is that? It’s because technology is radically changing how economically valuable human beings are. After all, humans can work only a few number of hours at a time. They get distracted. They require vacations. Their kids get sick. Computers don’t have those issues, so many companies are investing more money in technology and less money in people. Why pay for a cashier when a computerized self-checkout can work just as well?
And while technology has always changed economics, in many ways, we are starting to enter uncharted territory. That’s the message that YouTube educator CGP Grey makes in his troubling, fascinating and important video “Humans Need Not Apply”:
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