Perry A building Open University, Milton Keynes. Wikicommons/Chmee2. Some rights reserved.Since 2013 there has been considerable growth in the speculation and policy developed around technology developments and their impact on the future of work. The consensus argument is that 40-50% of current jobs can be replaced by robots, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things within a timeframe of 20 years.
The arrival of self-driving autonomous vehicles it is argued will reduce or eliminate the need for taxi drivers, truck drivers and many other transport roles. Unlike automation in the 1970s and 1980s, it is argued that this time it is not blue and white collar jobs that will be affected but serious professional roles. There are now many impressive examples where recent progress in machine learning can match and better in the health, accounting, legal and education professions.
There can be little doubt that the changes in society and the economy since the Bangemann report “Europe and the Global Information Society” in 1994 have been as significant as then predicted. However, the subsequent dotcom bubble and burst remind us not to have too much faith in technological determinism.
