Shift Work
I will never forget when I was first told - ‘People don’t buy a half-inch drill, they buy a half-inch hole.’ That’s right! Doh!
It was a great way to define value. So I pushed that idea.
Yep, we buy the need for the shelf or the door that required the drill. We want the value that comes from hanging a picture on the wall or taking the book from that shelf.
We did the work and the tool made it easier. But now our tools are crossing the line. They no longer merely extend our work, they perform it. Push that idea and ask - are we ready to be completely replaced, relieved of our duty? Do we have any value in that equation?
Should we consider what the value of this tool is going to be?
Warning: This is going to get a bit dark, it's a provocation and therefore potentially a bit conspiratorial so if you are squeamish maybe stop reading here.
I’m seeing robots everywhere. (It used to be dead people). Not sure exactly when or how accurate the predictions* are, but exponential growth means it's happening faster than we think."
*Reputable forecasts already suggest billions of humanoid robots will be in operation worldwide by 2035/40. A $5 trillion market and fully integrated into many aspects of home life and society. If you told me right now it will happen faster I will believe you.
Going on our past performance of mindless consumerism we will hook ‘em up and fast. The commercial players will see to it. They see dead people too.
While videos of drunken humanoid robots are a bit comical right now we won't be laughing at them in five years time. And as they will all be connected to some black cloud, will we have allowed a diabolical Trojan Horst networked army into our homes?
Hmm.
These tools will have the power of unmoderated thinking and operate perfectly autonomously - and be in every home. Something massive is gonna shift.
So far our tools have been at our disposal.
I’m generalising here but at some point the tables will turn - we will be at their disposal. We shift from being human in the loop to being at the mercy of it. A hammer amplifies our force - the robot will replace it. And that’s what feels freaky.
Tell me I’m wrong:
OK, at first we will be setting some direction, get me a coffee, double check the landing lights for the helipad. (I’m joking) (I will still make my own coffee) But inevitably the further we sofa surf into this the more we will let everything be done for and to us.
So, a predictable, but useless question might be where do we draw the line between tool and work? The more important one is do we have any say in it anyway. And what do we need to do now to avoid a real robocopalypse?
Given how easily so many sold their souls and their brains to social media, this isn't a walk in the park. The cheaper they become the more I’m terrified of what this is going to do to society. For generations (already half-lost to social media), work has been the last tether to the real world.
The robots won’t immediately rise. They’ll lean in, politely offering to help us while we forget how to stand. What happens when our purpose as humans starts to fade? Think about spending your days living in systems that imitate companionship.
Will we sit or stand for it?
We will call it progress, and probably call it help. But I think it’s gonna take some nerve to stay human in the middle of it all.
When simulated meaning means we stop reaching out to touch the world. What kind of world will that be? Many of us will use these tools to serve our imagination rather than replace it. And we can make them part of our intent, instead of the source of it. But look at the effect of social media.
When the only real job left is asking what do we do now I wonder what we will do. I worry.
