For those of you who missed it, my colleague Mike King penned an excellent article yesterday highlighting just some of the ways technology is changing our lives in what he described as a "full-blown technological revolution".
From the local market darlings such as REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) to international behemoths Amazon.com, Google and Netflix, the internet is providing an avenue for drastic changes and changing the way in which we live our day to day lives.
Mike's article is a great read and one that is certainly worth taking 2 minutes out of your day to ponder. While you can find the whole article here, there was one dot-point that I wanted to expand on a little. More on that in a moment.
Although it is difficult to fathom, change is coming
Most human beings find it impossible to imagine what the future could entail. Arguably, that's one of the defining factors that separates us from world-famous entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs (Apple), Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX) and Peter Thiel (PayPal) who have each made billions of dollars from their innovative thinking and futuristic visions.
For some people, change is exciting. Indeed, technology has changed the way in which we find jobs, shop for products, entertain ourselves and it has even changed the way in which we interact.
For others however, change can introduce an element of fear. In relation to the technological foundations in which our society is increasingly being built upon, one of the biggest fears is that technology will take away our jobs, and that's the element of Mike's article that I wanted to expand on.
In 2013, an Oxford Martin School study estimated that about 47% of total employment in the United States is at risk of becoming automated. Already, technology provided by companies such as XERO FPO NZ (ASX: XRO) has reduced the need for bookkeepers and accountants with its extremely customer-oriented accounting software products, while Amazon.com has replaced human beings with machines as well.
Notably, Amazon is also exploring the possibility of using drones to deliver packaged goods – a move that would surely impact employment in the freight and logistics industries.
Google could contribute to further loss of jobs in logistics. The technology behemoth is developing driverless cars which could have an impact on taxi drivers while truck drivers aren't immune to technological advancements either (although driverless trucks could take longer to take to the roads).
Never fear…
It truly is stunning how far technology has come in such a short period of time, and it's not uncommon to hear a person ask something to the effect of "What can't computers do?"
Indeed, a computer can instantaneously solve a complex mathematical equation that would otherwise take a human hours or even weeks to crack while they are experts at data processing as well. Employing technology instead of paying for human labour is a great way for companies around the world to reduce their costs and improve their efficiencies, so you can expect plenty more jobs to become computerised in the coming years.
So far however, we've focused on why more jobs will be lost to computers and ignored the fact that many more will also be created as a result.
In Peter Thiel's excellent book, Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future, Thiel argues that technological advancement is vital and a necessity in avoiding economic stagnation. The very things that most human beings can't even begin to imagine could be the changes necessary to improve our standard of living tenfold, and maybe even extend our life expectancies.
Thiel also argues however, that the most successful technology giants of the future won't be those trying to put human beings out of work by creating machines to do their work for them. Instead, they will be the ones building the machines to enhance what our minds and bodies are capable of and creating millions more jobs in the process.
The reason for this is because while computers are expert data processors, they often struggle to make simple decisions that human beings can do instantaneously. Thiel used the example of Google's artificial brain which boasted an incredible 74.8% accuracy in identifying a cat from millions of YouTube thumbnails, and while that seems impressive for a computer, it is dwarfed when compared to the 100% recognition rate of a cat from the eyes of a typical four-year-old child.
A bright future
Technology is revolutionising some industries and creating others that most people would never have thought possible. As we've already found out, the possibilities are endless when it comes to technology and investors can certainly take advantage of these trends.
