The video discusses the inevitable rise of automation and its impact on the economy and society. It starts by highlighting how humans have historically relied on physical labor for survival, but with the development of tools, this work has become easier and more efficient. This evolution has led to the modern agriculture system where almost no one needs to make food, yet there is still abundance.
The video then introduces the concept of mechanical muscles and minds, which are stronger, more reliable, and tireless than human muscles and minds. It argues that replacing human labor with mechanical labor frees people to specialize, benefiting everyone, including those still doing physical labor.
The video also introduces the concept of the "computer of the 1980s", Baxter, a general-purpose robot that can learn tasks by observing humans. It compares Baxter to the first computers, which were highly custom and expensive, but became vital when cheap, general-purpose computers appeared. The video argues that Baxter is the beginning of a similar trend, where robots with mechanical minds are becoming more powerful and cheaper every year.
The video then discusses the impact of automation on various industries, from transportation to healthcare. It argues that automation is not just about replacing low-skilled jobs, but also about changing the nature of work itself. It also discusses the potential rise of artificial creativity, where machines could potentially create new forms of art and music.
Finally, the video discusses the potential unemployment problem that could arise from automation. It argues that while new jobs are being created, they are not significant enough to prevent a large portion of the workforce from becoming unemployable. The video concludes by emphasizing that automation is inevitable and that we need to start thinking about how to adapt to a future where many jobs will be performed by machines.
1. Humans have always had to hunt or gather to survive, but over time, we've developed tools to make our work easier, from sticks to plows to tractors.
2. Modern agriculture has reduced the need for everyone to make food, yet we still have abundance.
3. Mechanical muscles, which are stronger, more reliable, and more tireless than human muscles, are replacing human labor. This is freeing people to specialize, leaving everyone better off.
4. Some people have specialized to be programmers and engineers, whose job is to build mechanical minds. This is an economic revolution.
5. The robot Baxter is a general-purpose robot that can do whatever work is within the reach of its arms. It's not as smart as some other things, but it's smart enough to take over many low-skilled jobs.
6. Self-driving cars are here and they work. They don't need to be perfect, they just need to be better than humans.
7. The transportation industry employs about 3 million people. Autos are coming and they're the first place where most people will really see the robots changing society.
8. Software bots are both intangible and way faster and cheaper than physical robots. Given that white-collar workers are more expensive and more numerous, the incentive to automate their work is greater than low-skilled work.
9. The stock market is no longer a human endeavor. It's mostly bots that taught themselves to trade stocks.
10. Bots have learned the market and bots have learned to write. Companies teach bots to write anything from sport stories to TPS reports.
11. The bulk of lawyering is actually drafting legal documents, predicting the likely outcome and impact of lawsuits, and something called discovery. This can be bot work.
12. IBM's bot named Watson is already doing the best doctor in the world. It understands what people say in their own words and gives back accurate diagnoses.
13. The frequency and severity of misdiagnoses are terrifying and human doctors are severely limited in dealing with a human's complicated medical history.
14. The music you're listening to in the background was written by a bot named Emily Howell. She can write an infinite amount of new music all day for free.
15. The robot revolution is different. Horses aren't unemployed now because they got lazy as a species. They're unemployable. There's little work that a horse can do to pay for its housing in hay and many perfectly capable humans will find themselves the new horse.
16. The us census in 1776 tracked only a few kinds of jobs now. There are hundreds of kinds of jobs but the new ones are not a significant part of the labor force.
17. The stuff that already works can push us over the unemployment rate during the great depression pretty soon.
18. This video isn't about how automation is bad, rather that automation is inevitable. It's a tool to produce abundance for little effort. We need to start thinking now about what to do when large sections of the population are unemployable through no fault of their own.