The reading for this week was “The 4th Industrial Revolution” written by Klaus Schwag.  It discusses the topic of a new revolution that will change the way we live, work, think and communicate.  He also outlines the challenges for growth in innovation when it comes to ethics and legislation.

I am quite concerned for the future of workers with many industries making the move to replacing humans with robotics to make businesses more effective.  How will truck drivers make a living once transport is capable of driving itself autonomously?  How will journalists make a living if Artificial Intelligence does the writing instead?  There is already a trend in the employment market with full-time work being replaced by casual, part-time and contract labor hire.  It could get to the point where technology and robotics create too much unemployment, which in turn creates social turmoil and chaos in an economic sphere.

We also see on the digital platform where corporations feel free to violate government legislation and avoid paying taxes.  Uber has caused major disruption throughout the world using technology to distribute their sharing service.  They provide a service that requires using infrastructure payed by the taxpayers.  But on the same token they refuse to pay taxes which in turn keeps this infrastructure maintained.  Governments are faced with the difficult challenge of collecting taxes on these type of businesses.  Tax havens will eventually have to be eradicated and loopholes closed to create an even playing field.  Similar online services are rapidly growing and creating new sharing facilities.  But employment from these services are usually contracted and free from the protections that trade unions have been fighting for over the past century.

The reliance on the internet also plays a factor on equality within a society.  Those that have no internet connection will basically be left behind.  The gap between rich and poor could be even more divided if internet services aren’t provided to everyone across the globe.  I fear that more people will be underemployed in the future and the gap will just keep growing.  It could be similar to the first industrial revolution where workers are gathering outside factories with their hands in the air hoping to be employed for the day.  Oh how I wish I was born a baby boomer instead.  Life was so much more uncomplicated.