Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Robots are stealing our jobs

Every year around 98,000 people die of medical mistakes that could be easily prevented. In America alone! So forget terrorists. When it comes down to killing civilians doctors and nurses do a much better job. Thing is - although some find it hard to believe - doctors and nurses are people. People get tired, cranky, distracted. In short: people make mistakes.

Wouldn't it be great if people could be taken out of the equation when it concerns other people's lives? Good news! Remember Watson, the IBM computer that won Jeopardy? A similar computer program can be used for medical diagnostics, reducing the chance for medical errors almost to zero. So what are we waiting for? Two things: people to stop being afraid of computers and people to stop being afraid of losing their jobs. Of course it is up to us what we do with our newly acquired spare time. We may claim we would like more free time. But do we really?

What is often not considered is that people who don't make money working in a job, don't spend money so replacing people by computers and algorithms is not really that good for the economy. A possible solution: a basic income for everyone! As a bonus: out of two working parents, now one can stay at home to actually raise the kids and  leave a job opening for someone else to take.

Here's a glimpse of our possible future:


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Want to read my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00K4007NG

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