In his TEDx talk, André LeBlanc portrays how Artificial Intelligence will influence the future of humans. What particularly struck me was his statement that working weeks might drastically decrease in terms of hours. In the far past, the majority of the population was a farmer, working over 80 hours a week to sustain themselves. Now it has decreased to 40 hours and the rise of AI promises to decline that number even further. I would like to proceed on this assumption.
It seems that in the near future, we don’t have to devote all our time to a job that allows us to sustain ourselves. I would like to use this blog to brainstorm about all the possibilities that lay in front of us and how humankind will use this extra time. I thought of a few possibilities of my own and I hope that some of the readers will post their ideas of how AI and other technological developments might change the way we use our time.
Could it be possible that we are so far in the evolution process that we don’t have to work anymore? That the end goal of humanity is to live life in freedom with no restrictions or obligations because we are completely provided with what we need due to advanced technology. I personally think that too much free time will cause all sorts of social problems because of lack of purpose. So perhaps there are more meaningful ways to use the spare time AI provides us.
With a large portion of the job market being outsourced to advanced machinery, humankind could focus at the current global problems for instance. Famine is still a major global, wicked problem. Would it be possible to combine the ever evolving technological possibilities with the spare hours of a major part of the population, to overcome problems like this? A paradoxical shift towards agriculture because of technological advancement.
Or could the spare time be used for more education, allowing to move forward as a species even further. Start exploring space at a more rapid pace, find cures for diseases that are now deemed incurable or finally develop the flying cars that we have been dreaming about for decades. If a larger portion of the population would devote their time to sciences, society will reap great benefits.
I would be utterly surprised if any of these options became reality, but it is a good thing to think about the endless possibilities that AI might provide us. I am curious to hear your thoughts.
