Submitted by altmorty t3_11uv1ud in Futurology
People are touting AI as a tech that will finally fulfil that long desired dream of freeing people from the drudgery of work. In the past, we were supposedly guaranteed a future where most jobs only required 15 hours a week of work. They wondered what everyone would do with all of their free time. Everything from vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners, washing machines, cars, computers, internet, smart phones, etc was supposed to save time.
What actually happened was we found more work. Email meant people worked for longer and work crept into their personal life. Instead of a short conversation in the office, long and tedious email chains become commonplace. The gains that tech like computers made simply meant fewer workers were hired and the remaining "lucky ones" were made to work the same or even longer hours. Greater productivity simply led to more work. Electrical home appliances meant wives were expected to work full time jobs on top of doing household chores. Instead of cars reducing journey times, commute times expanded to cover longer distances.
AI is likely to follow the same route. It will lead to higher productivity, which inevitably means far greater wealth for those at the very top. But, the rest of us are unlikely to see significant material gains as more will be expected of us.
The only real hope lies in making social, political, and economics changes that will mean at least some of the advantages conferred by AI will benefit the rest of society.