PEACHLAND VIEW
SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
3
NEWS
Predicting the advent of automation at Technovation DAN WALTON EDITOR
editor@peachlandview.com
As the technologies of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to advance, there will be a mass exodus of jobs within the next 20 years. That prediction is being made by Scott Hargrove, the CEO Fraser Valley Regional Library, who was in Peachland last week to share his ideas as the keynote speaker for Technovation, a roundtable about the future of technology. With self-driving vehicles becoming a reality, Hargrove says there’s a good chance that children born today will never need to get a driver’s licence. While a fully automated transportation system is likely to bring about vast opportunities, it’s a grave threat to millions of jobs. And Hargrove doesn’t think there’s anything that can prevent it from happening. “Based on historical evidence, there’s nothing that’s going to stop it,” he said. “As humanity, we’ve generally embraced technology.” Cutting-edge technologies are normally developed in large cities, so smaller communities like Peachland will probably see the effects of automation trickle in at a slower pace. But Hargrove says that may lead to a “leap frog” effect, because once the technologies have matured and the costs have come
down, entrepreneurs in untapped markets can focus their investments on reliable and affordable tools. “Places like Peachland and libraries – we can afford to not be on the cutting edge and take a step back. Companies can look and have time to assess.” After delivering his address, Hargrove was highly impressed by the local business community and municipal leadership in Peachland. “There’s clearly passion to bring technology into town, and that’s the recipe for success – communities that engage in that behaviour do very well.” Profoundly new technologies need to be kept in check, and Hargrove says it’s important to brainstorm and exchange ideas about the looming changes to society. Events like Technovation “Brings these minds together – I think Peachland is absolutely heading in the right direction.” But across the globe, the challenge of mass unemployment is likely to come about, and low-skill jobs are the easiest to be outsourced by automation and AI. That’s creating a steepening challenge for lowskilled workers, who will be the least qualified for the fewer jobs of tomorrow. To make sure the benefits of automation and AI outweigh the negative effects, Hargrove said governments will have to be proactive in adopting them as well as demonstrate a high
DAN WALTON
TAKING OUR JOBS – Curious minds filled the multi-purpose room at the Peachland Community Centre last week to exchange some big ideas about the future of automation and artificial intelligence. degree of ethics. He said no one industry can bear all of the responsibility. It will require all levels of government working with industries on the cutting edge to promote the best conditions. Hargrove compared the emergence of automation and AI to the 1950s when the Atomic Age was in its infancy, and scientists had just figured out how to harness colossal levels of energy. Splitting the atom created broad new potential to devastate natural environments, at the same time as global superpowers were exchanging threats of mutually assured destruction. But while there have been a few mishaps, strict regulations have allowed
the benefits of nuclear technologies to outweigh the consequences. “There are incredible advantages that come out of these new technologies.” And with the looming disruption of the workplace, “we have to make sure there is training for people to adapt. But we need to help people help themselves; people need to have the resources available to adapt to a changing environment.” He hopes to see external resources like libraries and schools well equipped with the tools to transition. “How do we avoid mass unemployment, if we know we’re going to have mass unemployment? What do we set up so people don’t fall
through the cracks?” As these technologies continue to emerge, it will be economical to scale the largest labour markets, meaning it will be more lucrative to outsource a factory of 5,000 workers than a factory of 500 workers – so Hargrove suspects large labour markets will be the earliest affected by automation. Jobs that will be tough for automation and AI to disrupt will require critical thinking and good judgement, he said, whereas jobs that require predictions to be made will be easier for technology to disrupt. On the other side of the coin, if everything goes smoothly with the implementation of automation, renewable energy
and AI – full-time jobs may only require 30 or 20 hours of work each week, and eventually an entire economy could function with very little human involvement. If the entire population could be taken care of without citizens being required to contribute, governments might find themselves paying people to not work. Even though that vision of the future is much more utopian, it still worries Hargrove, because if the concept of a career becomes uncommon, he wonders where people will find passion in life. “We already have a problem, likely driven from the internet, of social disconnection.” To avoid pandemic depression, he says the public needs to
build “communities of passion to produce a healthy environment and engage in a way that makes you feel like you’re succeeding in some way. Hopefully (displaced workers) can embrace a passion they didn’t have before.”
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Harley Davidson rider flashes teens VIEW STAFF The RMCP are trying to nab a man suspected of exposing himself to two teenage girls earlier this month in Kelowna. Around 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8 near the 700 block of Rutland Road North, the suspect – a white guy believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s – began conversing with the two girls. Then he allegedly exposed himself and made a cash offer. The suspect left the area without any further trouble after the girls told him no. After speaking with the girls and following up on leads, police believe the suspect arrived on a black motorcycle, possibly a Harley Davidson, with U-shaped handle bars. He’s described as being of average height and weight with red or strawberry blonde coloured hair and a beard. Witnesses saw him wearing
a black Harley Davidson branded t-shirt and a pair of dark coloured pants. Anybody who might know more about the indecent is being asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.
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