The singularity will affect different fields of work to
different degrees. Jobs that are easily
automated will be the first victims with highly technical fields being the most
secure. If a job can be formulated as a
sequential logical process then a computer can do it or control a mechanical
device to do it with higher precision than a human. Areas that will be difficult for the
singularity to consume are the ones that require a level of irrational thought
and development. The best example of
this kind of field would be theoretical scientific research. Is it possible for a robot to develop a
theory that wasn’t instructed by a programmer?
Other non-technical fields may be safe as well such as chefs. Could an AI be capable of designing a dish
that will appeal to the taste buds of a human that is highly variant from
person to person?
Our world will always require two types of work: machines
capable of fast calculations and precise moments and humans capable of
creativity and irrational thoughts. The
percentage of the roles that each play may change but the fact that they are
both needed will not. I do feel that if
society as a whole gives up on progress then this will be the point when technology will be capable of
completely consuming the roles of humans making “intelligent life” obsolete.
The field of aerospace engineering is a field that will be
difficult to be automated. Relative to
the total information needed in the field, society has hardly put a dent in the
vast possibilities of sea crafts, aircrafts, and spacecrafts. From the field of space exploration, getting
humans into space is still not an exact science, not to mention the problems we
have created with space debris and the perpetual threat of being annihilated by
an asteroid at any point. Because of
this I feel that my field of study will be safe from the chokehold of the
singularity, however, aerospace engineering will not escape scott free.
Right now advancements in research and development in this
field are slow and expensive. There
isn’t enough man power to do everything and ensure that it is safe. As the singularity approaches, it will initially
benefit the field making work easier and quicker with the addition of extra
computation power and new innovations.
As time progresses, the singularity will creep in starting to replace
the jobs of entry level engineers straight out of college. These jobs will become trivial and easily
replaceable, similar to the way we consider jobs like cashiers and stockers
today.
In general, there is a possibility for society to create a
resistance to the singularity. The revolution
starts with a complete reform of the education system from kindergarten to
graduate schools. These forms of
education are going to need to become highly oiled and effective machines. Schooling will need to become progressive
where basics are going to be taught earlier and earlier allowing from more time
for higher education topics. An ultimate
goal for this progressive school system is the capability of producing
graduates that are beyond the abilities of current entry level positions. With the basic jobs being taken over there
will be no opportunity to train from an entry level. Trade schools will also need a slight
reimagining. Having the trade schools
will allow students that are not as interested in going through the entire
system to still be able to be contributing members. This type of education needs to keep the
philosophy of rapidly teaching students only the important skills to perform a
job, but these students need to come out at a higher skill.
For me to prepare, I will approach my situation with the
mentality that my education never ends.
I need to have the mentality that my best is never good enough, and
force myself to keep pushing and challenging myself. I need to pursue knowledge that is outside my
comfort zone with the unattainable goal of being well rounded and proficient in
all fields of knowledge. All the skills
described throughout this blog as well as many others that were taught in ENDS
101, I am now capable of achieving along with the combined displines of
thinking outside of my comfort zone.
My first steps forward will be to continue learning about
electronics and how to program in a variety of languages as well as improve and
expand in the fields that I have been trained in. Most importantly may be to keep up with the
progress that is being made and jump aboard the new branches as soon as they
open. Being able to start from the grass
roots of a technology will make it easier to keep up then trying to have to
follow along and catch up with the progress.
This is the last chance to board the train. For those aboard, next stop is the
future. For those that missed the train,
there is no catching up now!
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