As Marc Andreesen stated, "Software is eating the world". Software and technology have been eating the world for a long time. Computers have made it easy for employees to be more efficient. I think that this is great. We can make more discovers and add more innovation to the world. We absolutely need this. The only issue is that the "Creators" will be the main ones that benefit from these changes and everyone else will be left behind. So what does that mean?
What if Tesla is successful at creating driverless cars. Will the displaced taxi cab drivers, uber drivers, and chauffeurs find new jobs easily? Their skill isn't building code, designing, or running businesses; it's driving vehicles. These workers will be displaced. What if artificial intelligence removes the need for 80% of the customer service work force. Where will these unemployed individuals go? They will be displaced. I think that innovation is essential and necessary, but I also think that the gains from these new innovations will only make the leaders of these companies very rich. It's the way of a capitalist society.
Critics wonder, "why will software displace people, while other revolutions have improved the living conditions of Americans?" I think that the Industrial Revolution and the first part of the Information Age improved the entire nation because it created low skilled jobs that lower middle and lower class could attain and also provided high skilled jobs that college graduates could attain. Blue collar workers and white collar workers were able to make enough money to buy homes, send their kids to good schools, and live a better lifestyle. The new era of the Information Age involves a highly skilled, global workforce. As low skilled jobs are replaced by software engineers and machines, job creation will fall into highly specialized areas that require higher education. Only 65% of high school graduates go to college. Of those students, very few join a STEM field.
I think that innovators should be appropriately compensated for the creativity they bring into the world. If we don't compensate them appropriately then we disincentivize people to innovate. But I also think that we shouldn't sell the story that this change will help the lower middle and lower class worker. When their job is replaced by a machine, they won't get a great severance package or new manager role. They will be displaced and forced to find a new, lower paying job. How do we make sure that this group isn't swallowed and then destroyed as software eats the world?