There are some things in life that technology hasn't been able to do quicker, more efficiently and more uniformly than handmade. They are notably things that don’t even matter in the financial world...things like basket making and home gardening come to mind. But, let the trendy public show any interest in something that can be knocked off, even like making personal cards, and in two shakes of a lamb’s tail there'll be the automated production line going, and Hallmark will have perfect replicas, with perfect verses, on perfect cardstock for any occasion you can dream up. Money. Technology. Money.Technology...you get the idea.
Where’s the line?
It's as if we don't know when to dig our heels in, and say, “Enough is here now!” No, we soldier on, marching to the ever increasing tempo of technology's tune. There’s little time to pause; lots to be done each day, because we’ve developed the need to accomplish so much more in less time, before, at the end of each day, settling on the couch, with production-line snacks that will make us fat, and TV fodder to keep our minds entertained until the next day.
Jobs now
You may have either noticed, or worse still, experienced job loss owing to replacement by robots. Just yesterday another 7000 folks were thrown out of their jobs at Bombardier, the aircraft manufacturers. Hate to tell you this, but it seems inevitable that with AI well underway, no profession is safe from replacement. That's quite a thought, isn't it?
War's next?
You might not have heard of the rocket making corporation, SpaceX? Well, they are so concerned about artificial intelligence, they believe it to be more dangerous than nuclear weapons. And, laughably, there has also been a suggestion that there needs to be a USA presidential order declaring lethal autonomous weapons systems to be in violation of international humanitarian law!
As I write this, schools and hospitals are being targeted, bombed and obliterated in Syria. This is in direct contravention of international humanitarian law. So, really, is it likely that several different despots and megalomaniacs who live in our world would care a rap for such a law?
Knowledge is king
Today it seems a better course might be to make your peace with whatever new technology arrives in life, and just be kind to folks that cross your path. But seriously, I don't want an AI robot doctor, or even worse, an AI housekeeper giving me orders.
Vicki