I just listen to my friends or families’ stories about all the repetitive things they have to do at work (copying things from a word doc to a spreadsheet, or sending documents for approval and then back again before attaching a pic of the signature manually, or needing to save files in 3 different locations etc) and just start thinking about all the ways I could automate that and wonder why the hell it isn’t automated to begin with.
Basic economics probably, finding and paying a programmer to automate the 1000s of small tasks in a normal office is more expensive than paying a large number of people to perform them manually (or training some of them to automate their own jobs). This will probably change overtime with tools like Zapier and other workflow automation tools becoming more common.
You might be surprised how often this is a consideration at companies that are doing things like building SaaS products i.e. even companies that sell software might do things manually because programmers are so scarce.
I've learned an invaluable lesson in my life: just because I can doesn't mean that I should. Technology is great! As you said it can make many things sooo much more efficient. Conversely, though, some things should be left well enough alone. In some cases, speed would enhance life. In others, it would be the detriment or the start of it to that situation (an oven vs a microwave). It's up to us to have the wisdom, foresight, and compassion to know when, how, and to what extent do we apply technological advances.
lol. I think I would be too. If something goes wrong with the vacuum you can likely contain and maybe even easily mitigate the damage. A lawnmower is an ENITRELY different beast. In the right circumstances, that could even result in a lawsuit. lol
Yeah, my wife is a government worker and I have similar stories. It's interesting (if not a bit scary) to think about how much work can already be automated and the social consequences of doing so.
We still have elevator operators where I live. It feels inhumane for someone to be trapped into a metal box, pushing buttons 8 hours a day to make a living but, at the end of the day, they probably don't have much better alternatives around here :(
Or , maybe there are alternatives, but they benefit from the intangibles (like meeting and conversing with people) the job provides. An elevator operator can unwittingly become your therapist. lol
What do you think about UBI (Universal Base Income) then? I like the alternative that was suggested by Naval Ravinkat on Joe Rogan podacst. Is to have have Base Services instead of UBI. Because, you know, some people just can't spend their money right.
I'm not familiar with Base Services, would that be something like the nordic model? I'm not well versed in the macroeconomic aspect of it but I really like the idea of a Universal Basic Income and I'm excited with recent studies about its effectiveness.
UBI will, I think, definitely work with people who already have some "money skills". Now let's the low part of the society. Junkies and alcoholics, what do they do with money? I think people like that should receive base services (food, grooming, etc.).
I just listen to my friends or families’ stories about all the repetitive things they have to do at work (copying things from a word doc to a spreadsheet, or sending documents for approval and then back again before attaching a pic of the signature manually, or needing to save files in 3 different locations etc) and just start thinking about all the ways I could automate that and wonder why the hell it isn’t automated to begin with.
I think you are me
Basic economics probably, finding and paying a programmer to automate the 1000s of small tasks in a normal office is more expensive than paying a large number of people to perform them manually (or training some of them to automate their own jobs). This will probably change overtime with tools like Zapier and other workflow automation tools becoming more common.
You might be surprised how often this is a consideration at companies that are doing things like building SaaS products i.e. even companies that sell software might do things manually because programmers are so scarce.
I've learned an invaluable lesson in my life: just because I can doesn't mean that I should. Technology is great! As you said it can make many things sooo much more efficient. Conversely, though, some things should be left well enough alone. In some cases, speed would enhance life. In others, it would be the detriment or the start of it to that situation (an oven vs a microwave). It's up to us to have the wisdom, foresight, and compassion to know when, how, and to what extent do we apply technological advances.
Absolutely!
I have a robot vacuum, but I'm a bit skeptical about the robot lawn mowers!
lol. I think I would be too. If something goes wrong with the vacuum you can likely contain and maybe even easily mitigate the damage. A lawnmower is an ENITRELY different beast. In the right circumstances, that could even result in a lawsuit. lol
Yeah, my wife is a government worker and I have similar stories. It's interesting (if not a bit scary) to think about how much work can already be automated and the social consequences of doing so.
We still have elevator operators where I live. It feels inhumane for someone to be trapped into a metal box, pushing buttons 8 hours a day to make a living but, at the end of the day, they probably don't have much better alternatives around here :(
Or , maybe there are alternatives, but they benefit from the intangibles (like meeting and conversing with people) the job provides. An elevator operator can unwittingly become your therapist. lol
I think you just gave me an idea for a short story, haha
What do you think about UBI (Universal Base Income) then? I like the alternative that was suggested by Naval Ravinkat on Joe Rogan podacst. Is to have have Base Services instead of UBI. Because, you know, some people just can't spend their money right.
I'm not familiar with Base Services, would that be something like the nordic model? I'm not well versed in the macroeconomic aspect of it but I really like the idea of a Universal Basic Income and I'm excited with recent studies about its effectiveness.
UBI will, I think, definitely work with people who already have some "money skills". Now let's the low part of the society. Junkies and alcoholics, what do they do with money? I think people like that should receive base services (food, grooming, etc.).
That makes sense, redirecting some part of the UBI money into some kind of recovery program for vulnerable people sounds like a better idea.
I mean, replace metal box with cubicle and you've literally just described being a software developer at a lot of large companies...