AI next industrial Rev?

 In 2008 when the movie Wall-E was released it all felt very far-fetched. As time moves on and technology advances as well as our dependence on it, Wall-E feels pretty feasible today.

The industrial revolution that began roughly in the 1760s, brought many crazy ideas, as well as some more practical ones to modernize the civil world. But at what cost?

Lace machines could now make lace faster and without having to pay as many humans to make it, so therefore cheaper and so people bought it thinking it was really the better way to go.

On the flip side of that is the elderly woman who was able to make lace at home, as time allowed, while caring for others in her family. She was paid when she sold the piece. If she needed more money she’d make more lace and find the time to get it completed faster.

I understand that humans were still needed to operate and watch the machines, but that isn’t the same work. The

skills, for one, are completely different, and second of all, now that same woman can’t work on lace, as time allows,

at home, while caring for her family. If she was even allowed to operate the machine, she would have to find

someone else to care for her family, pay them to do it and learn a new set of skills.

Her wages would most likely be predictable though. Yes, probably, but again at what cost?

The industrial revolution fueled the need for slaves and the labor they were providing. More cotton was needed to

keep up with the demand of the machines. This brought along the need for dye plants as well. Indigo fields were

tended by slaves. Synthetic dyes didn’t come on the scene until 1856; their use in commercial textiles is widespread

today.

All this fabric now available so much faster and with less perceived work is the beginning of the slippery slope into

the fast fashion problems we have today.

The kind of consumers those in the US and other 1st world countries have become stems from this. “I can have one

in every color.” “I can buy another if it gets stained or torn.” Many no longer take care of their clothing, because

they have no idea of the work that goes into making the clothing or where the materials their clothing is made out

of comes from.

These machines have removed most people, humans, from the process of how things are made; clothing, shoes,

furniture and even food.

I wonder if A.I., artificial intelligence, is on track to doing the same sort of thing? To outsource people with

machines. The recent threat of a writers strike is what got me wondering about this. The idea is to take some scripts

that are written by humans and “feed” it to A.I. and then A.I. can start writing the scripts for movies and T.V. shows.

Aside from the lack of options available for the stories that A.I. will be able to produce, this is worrisome for a

number of reasons. At the top of my list is the effect it will have on those whose livelihood is writing scripts.

Some writers will still be needed to feed A.I. but for how long?

Okay let’s remove job loss from the equation. What did the industrial revolution do for people and what has A.I.

already done for us? “It has freed up time” is what most people are going to say first. “Made life easier.” We have

machines to make fire to cook our food, wash the dishes, wash laundry, vacuum and shop for us; I haven’t seen that

here is Las Cruces, but it was normal to be going down the aisle in Walmart in Aurora with a robot. Cars, planes and

trains get us and the things to places faster.

All the free time for what? Spending time with family? I wish. Instead most people have their children in every after

school thing possible. Free time for working more hours, to make more money to spend on… Addictions,

entertainment, clothes, makeup. Time spent on social media. All that time we feel the need to fill up has us running

from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next. Causing stress and “time crunch” and “there’s not enough hours in

the day”. Even with the help of these machines and all this free time we don’t have enough time to do the things we

need to do any more, like go grocery shopping or make dinner. Everything can be ordered and delivered to your

home.

Having the machines do all the work has also removed a sense of purpose and responsibility from the life of many

and causes depression, anxiety and complacency.

We now live in the world of instant land. More time, we get more done and now I can do it faster too and that means

getting even more done.  Microwaves get food done in minutes. Walmart will deliver it in two hours. Set it and forget

it appliances, make the bread, cook the food, vacuum the floor and we don’t even have to be home to watch the

machine.

Back to the job issue. When a person's job is replaced by a machine, most of the time, it devalues the work that

person is doing. Now, many of the people being replaced are in positions that require creativity, thought, hard work

and years of education. This devalues their work, their craft, their art. It devalues the person as well. It shows that it

is more about the bottom line and not the people helping to “make” the bottom line. For many whose identity is

wrapped up in their work, this is going to cause mental anguish that could lead to addiction, depression and even

suicide.

I know first hand about my work being devalued because of the work a machine does. A hand knit pair of socks

contains about 28,000 stitches. If I work one stitch per second, that pair of socks will take about 8 hours. Charge

minimum wage and then add in the cost of materials and that pair of socks is worth $121. Why would someone pay

that though when they can buy a pair from Walmart with “Sherpa fleece” inside or Yoda on them for less than $10?

And they can be delivered in 2 hours. This is one of the reasons I don’t sell much. Me selling at “affordable” prices

actually hurts the handmade industry. People in the industry are starting to realize this and some are beginning to

charge “living wage” rates for their handmade products. I want to be one of those people.

I saw this on Instagram the other day. Someone had re-posted it from Twitter I think. “Humans doing the hard jobs

on minimum wage while the robots write poetry and paint is not the world I wanted.” Karl Sharro

Before the industrial revolution the average person knew what their clothing was made out of and how to repair it.

Where their food came from and how to cook it. Could get home without a machine to give directions and tell time

by the sun.

Many people younger than me can’t read a clock with a second hand, a map, cursive and don’t know that polyester

comes from crude oil. People in the US are more ignorant of the actual working of the world around them than

ever. People are lonely, depressed, bored and feel purposeless. All this for the sake of progress.

Be it the Axiom or the Matrix, the result is the same, humans are the prisoners and the machines run the place.

I have one question for you, red or blue?