The age of analytical reasoning
The world we inhabit, COVID-19 aside, has had very mixed fortunes over the last decade. On one hand, technology has enabled us to achieve things our ancestors would never have believed possible: redefining the way people communicate, collaborate, shop, travel, read, research, watch films, gather information, book holidays, bank, and so much more.i Digital photography and social media have enabled us to capture, represent and share the world in previously unimaginable ways, while tools such as 3D printers allow us to make real our designs for anything, from sculptures to fully operational bridges, at the touch of a button.
Technology has also given us wider cultural experiences. This has expanded opportunities to learn: apps on our phones enable us to quickly and easily communicate in a multitude of languages, while augmented reality helps us find out more about the places we are visiting.
In terms of the economy, artificial intelligence (AI) and mass automation have been transformative, with much routine and low skilled work now undertaken by robots and relying on algorithms. This use of AI is set to continue, with code created by machine learning making surprisingly insightful moves: from picking up features in medical images hitherto unspotted by humans, to making profitable trades on the stock exchange.ii
AI will also take over many tasks that machines can perform equally well or better than humans: everything from processing insurance claims to driving and space exploration. And while, in the past, new technologies served to create as many jobs as they took away, as the productivity of technology has begun to increase, so has the number of jobs lost without being replaced. This is worrying, not least because pre-COVID estimates suggested that in 20 years, 47 percent of jobs in the US and 54 percent of those in Europe would be lost to machines.iii