#TECHNOLOGIES LOST TO TIME DRIVERS#

What will otherwise would-be cab (or more likely Uber and Lyft) drivers now do? Waymo’s response? Take up new jobs created by self-driving technology, gigs like self-driving fleet technicians, rider support operators, and software engineers. However, mobility sans driver raises concerns about job losses. In recent years, the company’s sensor-laden, white minivans have become a common sight in some American suburbs. Take Waymo, the Google backed startup developing driverless taxis.

Technology’s job boosting ability is often touted by tech advocates. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, technology will create at least 12 million more jobs than it destroys, a sign that in the long run, automation will be a net positive for society. Under this dichotomy, the key question is whether technology creates more jobs than it destroys. If technology creates (or reinstates) work, jobs are created. If technology displaces workers, jobs are lost.

Economists - with near ubiquity - treat technology as being either labor displacing or labor reinstating. The labor market impact of technology is often viewed through the lens of job creation or job destruction. Forsaking human folly for algorithmic (and mechanistic) perfection means better, cheaper, and faster service.īut what should workers - who once provided these services - expect? Can they also benefit from technological progress? If so, how? From contactless cashiers to welding drones to “chow bots” - machines that serve up salads on demand - automation is fundamentally transforming, rather than merely touching, every aspect of daily life. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.

Technologies lost to time