Book Byte #349 "The Technology Trap" by Carl Benedikt Frey
Jason Ziebarth
Founder of Club255 — Helping thousands of STEM Professionals Connect with Each Other, Build their Career and Defeat their Inner Critic.
Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation
📣 Curious Quotes from the Author
“Computer-controlled machines have eliminated precisely the jobs created for a host of machine operators during the Second Industrial Revolution. The workers that were once pulled into decent-paying jobs in mass-production industries are now being pushed out.”
“Whether replacing technologies will be blocked depends on who stands to gain from them and the societal distribution of political power.”
📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea
The only factor influencing human development and prosperity has been technology. Since the Industrial Revolution, every technological wave has resulted in a significant increase in living standards and irrevocable changes to the way we work and live. However, the advantages have not always been equally distributed or immediately noticeable. Short-term social unrest and displacement are frequently caused by technology disruption.
New technology and increased educational attainment propelled a period of expanding equality and middle-class affluence in the 20th century. This tendency was later reversed by computers, which led to the automation of occupations and a growing concentration of wealth at the top. Even more upheaval is coming as AI advances, necessitating a rethinking of our institutions and a redefining of the social compact for a new era.
Until Tomorrow,
Jason (Founder Club255)