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There are lots of discussions about the future economy, especially following the introduction of ChatGPT. Before, it was thought that initially only the repetitive work (typically blue-collar jobs) would be substituted with robots. However, ChatGPT has shown that even many knowledge worker roles can be automated and replaced by AI. Furthermore, if we assume that we're on the verge of achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), it means that any type of human labour can be easily replaced by AI. And this prompts the questions, such as: what does that imply for humanity? If we're not creating value or contributing to the economy, how will that affect the socio-economic order, or individual happiness?
There are essentially two camps in this debate: one camp asserts that AI will merely increase productivity, assuming the mundane tasks, and new jobs will emerge for humans to continue working. They draw parallels to the First and Second Industrial Revolutions. However, the second camp, which aligns more with Yuval Noah Harari’s perspective, posits that this current AI revolution differs from previous Industrial Revolutions. This is because humans possess only two types of abilities: physical and cognitive. During the First and Second Industrial Revolutions, technology outperformed humans physically, leading to the automation of many jobs and a human shift towards jobs requiring cognitive abilities. Now, as AI starts to compete with us cognitively, we don’t have a third type of ability to which we could shift for value creation.
In short, this is a hotly debated topic with many interesting perspectives. And in the past, I have also helped a friend write her master's thesis on this, and now I want to explore it myself, read contemporary research and opinions, and create my own piece on it.
Essentially, my primary goal is to envision the future of the labor market, especially after the advent of AGI.