Tech Report : Does Technology Level the Playing Field or Increase the Gap?

It is funny to think that technology based on saving lives and improving the quality of life for people living on the planet could actually play an even bigger role in promoting inequality...

Just because the technology exists doesn't mean normal everyday people will be able to afford access to it. It boils down to a question that society must ask. Do you think everyone should have access to life saving technology no matter the cost? Who do you think should be responsible to pay for this access? Personally, I don't want anyone to die or suffer when there are treatments available to save them or ease that suffering.

I recognize at this time that this is an ideal of which I'm unable to provide a clear roadmap for achieving. However, in this article I will discuss the ways that modern technology may be promoting inequality and try to find some potential solutions to prevent that from being the case moving forward.

Apparently, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) recently issued a research report entitled 'How Unequal? Insights on Inequality.'

In this report, Nicholas Rohde and Lars Osberg proposed that different approaches to measuring inequality can lead to different views on its level and extent. But what does that mean?

Well I guess what they are saying is that it can be quite a subjective topic and data can be skewed without much effort.

One point the report makes is that inequality exists in Australia, and it also exists in every other country in the world. But the report also points out the fact that we need to be extremely sensitive and aware of the political nature that new emerging technologies have and how they may affect populations.

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There is no doubt that there is rapid transformation taking place and new technologies are responsible for reshaping entire industries, forcing transition upon labour markets and even redesigning the way that we relate and communicate with each other.

Five decades of rising capabilities and falling costs in digital communications, information storage and data processing have given rise to a number powerful, multi-use technologies, such as machine learning algorithms, secure and distributed forms of data sharing and management, advanced materials, biotechnologies and neurotechnologies, among many others.

We are living in an age of smartphones, AI, robotics, genetic engineering and blockchain. These technologies are changing society in ways we can't even see or imagine but we will certainly be able to perceive them as they dig deep roots into everything we do on a daily basis.

The World Economic Forum makes reference to the idea above as the Fourth Industrial Revolution: a period of economic and social transformation on par with the industrial revolutions that ushered in the factory system, mass transport, electricity and sanitation and the digital economy.

In the next segment of my article, I will briefly discuss two different ways in which new emerging technologies have the potential to significantly impact inequality and widen the gap between the haves and have nots...

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Firstly, the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence has the potential to exponentially increase unemployment along with other new and powerful technologies which are becoming available and happen to be must more cost efficient than traditional human labour.

If you're like me, it is hard to take statements like the one above as fact without supporting sources. Well, here's a statistic. According to the 2015 CEDA report regarding Australia's future workforce, its author, Hugh Durrant-Whyte et al, through statistical analysis found that "40 per cent of current jobs have a high probability (greater than 0.7) of being computerised or automated in the next 10 to 15 years".

This is an insanely high number and the amount of havoc this may reap on society will most likely be absolutely devastating. How can we stop this from happening? Well in regard to large corporations we will have a tough time doing anything to stop it all. But in regard to our communities we can make an effort to create human jobs and employ human labor, marking our products as 'made by humans.' We can also choose to only buy human made / handmade products and ban all others. This is a personal choice but if enough people did it, problem solved.

Of course the types of jobs being replaced by automation will most likely replaced by automation will be significantly low skilled jobs. This will overwhelmingly impact lower-income workers and create even more societal problems. As a result inequality would rise and give way to a new term i.e. technological unemployment and give way to the phrase — 'I've been replaced by machine.' When someone is asked what they do for a living...

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A second way that technological advancement may increase social inequality is based on the idea that more productive capital in the form of robots, algorithms and automated factories could further shift returns in the economy away from workers.

Laura Tyson, a chairholder on the Council of Economic Advisers under former US president Bill Clinton raised an interesting question that pertains to the idea above, "who owns the machines?" Ownership of capital is already extremely concentrated and reducing human labor from the equation will only result in more inequality as owners find themselves even more wealthy and see increased income streams.

So what are some clear solutions to the problems mentioned above?

Admittedly I've borrowed these ideas from published work I've used to create this article with. I firmly agree with some of the solutions presented through the research of this topic. Ideas like focusing on augmenting rather than replacing workers is very important. Creating a social safety net which buffers affected workers and provides them with free or affordable training to transition into a new career is also a great idea. Improving education and focusing it on learning skills in which technology is unable to master or duplicate would be yet another idea to help combat these issues.

What are your opinions about technology and its ability to further the inequality gap between the rich and the middle and lower classes?

Thanks for reading.

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Authored by: @techblogger

In-text citations sources:

"Inequality in Australia: four ways technology is creating a new divide" - ABC

Image Sources:

ABC, Pexels

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