After reading that title, you may be wondering, who is Yang, what robots are stealing jobs, and what the heck is a Machine Shepherd?! Skim the the bold headings for a synopsis, or read the post and click the links to learn more.
Yang = 2020 Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang: If you haven’t heard of/from Andrew Yang, it’s probably because he gets the least amount of questions and talk-time in the DNC debates, but his momentum is quickly building. Famous for his Freedom Dividend, once you board the “Yang Train”, meet the #YangGang, and research his policies further, you’ll quickly find yourself muttering “That makes sense”, and “Wouldn’t that be great”.
Whether you’re scrolling his website, reading/listening to his books, watching his documentary, or listening to the panoply of podcasts he’s been on, a clear sense of vision and direction from this entrepreneurial father of two quickly takes shape. Over the past year I’ve gone from thinking it would be nice if Yang won the nomination, to believing he’s the best candidate to win the presidency! But WHY you may ask? I say do the MATH.
Since 2016, I’ve been blogging about Automation, Quantum Computing, Future Proofing Your Career, and all the ways technology will replace the jobs many of you reading this post currently occupy. So far in my writing, I’ve tended to stay out of politics when possible. What’s great about the topic of AI is it doesn’t matter what party you belong to, the robots are coming either way!
However, the silence on job automation from the current administration is deafeningly quiet and Andrew Yang, is the only candidate in the 2020 race talking about it with any form of logic and comprehension.
America and the world at large are poorly prepared and ill-suited for the pace at which the automation revolution will replace workers. Mr. Yang’s Humanity First, platform contains some of the best solutions we have to get ahead of this revolution, rather than suffer from it.
Job Stealing Robots = 47% of US Jobs At Risk of Automation: As outlined in my previous posts and the plethora of AI headline stories from the past three years, automation is coming for jobs and we don’t have the societal structures in place to deal with it empathetically. Whether it’s McKinsey, Harvard Business Review, or the previous admistration’s White House Economic Advisors, all signs point to continued gains for the owners of automation and losses for those who’s work is displaced.
Sweeping benefit reforms, new gauges for economic success, and transitional education resources will be critical to secure stability in the workforce in the coming decade. The next recession may not be driven by financial institutions, but instead by a worker driven inability to continue purchasing. Either way, a new mentality will be helpful for those looking to adapt quickly in the 2020’s.
Machine Shepherds = Humans + Machines Working Together For Prosperity: When I stumbled upon the exponential capabilities of technology, I found myself contemplating possible alternatives to an AI job-pocalypse. My brain mumbles and neurological wheel spinning led to an hypothesis I’ve stuck with since. That is, if you can’t beat them, join them!
There’s a well carved path of exponential technological adoption from our past we can rely on to map out our future. After all, isn’t past performance the best indicator for future potential? Through six stages, we’ll see AI and automation adoption increase over the next three decades. The most important stage though is the longest, most arduous one of becoming Machine Shepherds.
Put simply, this stage is comprised of everyone looking for ways to adopt automation in their daily work. By building the skills to work with machines (AI, Robots, Machine Learning, etc.) now, we can build a career of guiding machines to higher levels of performance, AND achieve higher levels of compensation AND productivity.
This may not be an exact outline of what is to come, but isn’t it better to be prepared through improvement with your fate in your own hands? This is the challenge of our generation! If we get ahead of it and get it right, we just might not need to worry about work ever again. As we close out this decade and start a new one, I can’t help but think that the best way to the future isn’t to the left or right, it’s forward.
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Check out my other posts to learn more about Machines Learning:
1) You don’t need to code, to recruit with AI
2) Future-proofing Your Career
3) A.I. Stepping Into Life Series
Follow me on Twitter: @zacengler
Want to learn about how artificial intelligence will impact the future of your career? Find more at zacengler.com OR follow me on Twitter: @zacengler