Over the last 200 years, technology automation has never caused a net loss of jobs. AI is a type of technology automation. The question for this article is whether AI automation will be the first technology to result in a net loss of jobs that is bigger than the decline in the number of workers. Is AI just another form of automation that will create some jobs and destroy others? Or will AI destroy more jobs than it creates resulting in unemployment that will continually rise, and remain permanently high? Science fiction books, TV, and movies are replete with descriptions of intelligent robots ranging from beneficial robots like C3PO from the Star Wars movie series to killer robots such as the ones depicted in the Terminator movie series.

Digital Transformation and the 4IR – AI, Blockchain, IoT, Fintech is not a steady, fixed concept. It has evolved swiftly, over the course of various years, by gradual improvements of the technology, particularly the Internet, which fostered increasing digitization. Jeremy Rifkin, a US economist, futurist, and sociologist, who has analysed the shifts in society due to technology over the course of various decades, has written widely about the topic. He was the first one to tackle the impact of digital technologies and how these were triggering what he saw as a profound industrial shift. He described that shift, which he called "third industrial revolution", in his book "The Third Industrial Revolution; How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World" (2011).

"Anyone who wants to discuss how artificial intelligence is shaping the world should read this book. Tegmark, a physicist by training, takes a scientific approach. He doesn't spend a lot of time saying we should do this or that, and as a result, Life 3.0 offers a terrific baseline of knowledge on the subject." Tegmark successfully gives clarity to the many faces of AI, creating a highly readable book that complements The Second Machine Age's economic perspective on the near-term implications of recent accomplishments in AI and the more detailed analysis of how we might get from where we are today to AGI and even the superhuman AI in Superintelligence. . . . At one point, Tegmark quotes Emerson: 'Life is a journey, not a destination.'

The world's economy is in the early stages of a Second Machine Age--sometimes called a "Fourth Industrial Revolution"--an explosion of new digital technology poised to transform manufacturing and industry as dramatically as the steam engine or telegraph. "The current pace of technological change is breathtaking," says Ben Uglow, Morgan Stanley's head of research for the Capital Goods Industry. "This is not a vague concept that may happen one day in a hypothetical world. It is very much here and now, as real dollars are being committed, with tangible benefits in efficiency and productivity." In their newest report, Investing in the Second Machine Age--Picking the Winners, Uglow and his research colleagues take an in-depth look at the six most relevant technologies--artificial intelligence software, autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT) hardware, industrial software, robotics and semiconductors--and identify companies best positioned to capitalize on this theme.

At its core Artificial Intelligence is about teaching computers to do what humans can do with the expectation that computers will do those things better. Examining the history of technological progress it is possible you will not live long enough to see Artificial Intelligence change the world. Assuming AI is something that will change the world and that is in no way assured. In a best case scenario Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will be system capable of tapping the sum of human knowledge to answer questions which are currently beyond us and generate ideas which we are incapable of. AGI relies on a breakthrough yet to be made so in the near term we can expect that slivers of task specific Artificial Intelligence will be embedded into software, services and products in the same fashion that databases are now embedded in the such things.

Corporate earnings are set to rise more than 20%. Productivity gains in excess of 5% of global GDP are possible. And $650 billion of new industrial spending is likely. It examines how advances in information technology are tilting the landscape. Spoiler alert: Investors need to get ready.

We have entered the "second machine age." The first machine age began with the industrial revolution, which was driven primarily by technology innovation. The ability to generate massive amounts of mechanical power made humans more productive. Where the steam engine started the industrial revolution, the second machine age has taken us by storm with computers and other digital advancements giving us the ability to understand and shape our environments. What the steam engine and its descendants did for muscle power, the Internet of Things (IoT), computers, digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will do for brainpower.

Original, accessible, and provocative….Tegmark successfully gives clarity to the many faces of AI, creating a highly readable book that complements The Second Machine Age's economic perspective on the near-term implications of recent accomplishments in AI and the more detailed analysis of how we might get from where we are today to AGI and even the superhuman AI in Superintelligence…. At one point, Tegmark quotes Emerson: 'Life is a journey, not a destination.' The same may be said of the book itself. Enjoy the ride, and you will come out the other end with a greater appreciation of where people might take technology and themselves in the years ahead.

Technology is getting smarter, faster. Experts including the authors of The Second Machine Age, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, examine the impact that "thinking" machines may have on top-management roles.

Summary: Artificial intelligence has arrived. The mid-twentieth century horse apocalypse shows us what it might do to employment. It is history's rebuttal to the pollyannas about tech. This is a follow-up to yesterday's post -- Films show us how smart machines will reshape the world. "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."