Future of work

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Yuval Harari, author of «Sapiens» on AI, religion, and 60-day meditation retreats

Can humans expect empathy from superintelligent entities once they are here? What does it mean when your doctor is an algorithm? And what will people do when there is no more work for them – or will there? your doctor is an algorithm? A super interesting talk with Yuval Harari, the author of «Sapiens» and now «Homo Deus». So many takeaways, but what instantly stuck with me: how he describes religion as a virtual reality game.

From Weekly Filet #232, in March 2017.

Humans Need Not Apply

Automation of human work will be one of the defining issues of the coming ten, twenty years. We’ve entered a phase where robots not only replace physical work previously done by humans, but brain work. This brief 15 minute explainer video by CGP Grey does a great job putting the development in historical perspective – and points out why hardly anyone’s job will be safe. Better watch it now before a robot does it for you.

From Weekly Filet #174, in August 2014.

Why we should give free money to everyone

Free money for everyone is one of the stories about Switzerland that have travelled across the globe recently. As Swiss people will get to vote on a basic income, a lot of questions have arisen and remain open. This interesting article from the Netherlands looks at real-life experiments that might prove that free money does not remove incentives to work and leaves everyone better of. I remain skeptical of the idea – mainly for reasons, though, that are not mentioned in the article: It will create a rift between those eligible for a basic income and those who aren’t and I shouldn’t be at all surprised if it would lead to ever tighter immigration laws.

From Weekly Filet #148, in January 2014.

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