My wife and I were discussing that topic during our last trip to Virginia. I used to drive all over the country using a map, planning my trips by making a list of turns that I would need to make, exits and so forth. Today, with traffic as busy and as fast as it is, I think it would be difficult to travel that way, particularly on the East Coast, where bumper-to-bumper traffic moves at 70 mph. Even with the GPS, it's easy to miss turns or to not be able to get over to the right or to the left in time to make the exit. Except for a brief trip to Washington, I haven't been on the West Coast since the early 1980s but my experience there was that, while traffic was very heavy, it mostly wasn't going anywhere. Except for accidents, we don't usually have the kind of traffic jams that I have experienced while living in California.
Thinking about it a little more, it isn’t the present day tech nor the thought of what is coming next that scares me at all and could be rather exiting. What does concern me though is that since nearly the whole world is dependent upon the stuff, it’s the technology that can remove all of the technology in an instant that kinda scares me. Y2K anyone? Or an EMP?
Will admit, a lot of today's technology does scare me, probably because of not understanding. Any tech that i have learned, only maybe in the last 10 years. But i can safely say i can read maps, tell time, conduct at the best part, daily living, the tech part, eg. internet, computers for me is a bonus as to do learning, i can live without it, but on my scale, i do enjoy it, but still so much makes me nervous. I do notice so much of the younger generation live by the tech life, i wonder, do they know how to conduct any part of their lives without it. There is so much in today's advancement that falls into the wrong minds.....that scares me to death.
The incredible inventions/gadgets as a result of technology are exciting but seeing the almost total dependence many have on this technology is scary. I have seen younger people literally panic when the wifi went down and there was no access to the internet.
I thought of this when I was visiting my parents a couple of weeks ago. We were looking for Dad a Roku device for his television. I started to check on my phone regarding local stores and he hands me the phone book. Since I haven't used one in a couple of decades, I went blank trying to figure out where to even start. I seriously had to go get my phone instead.
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to improve productivity, make life much easier and fulfilling, but like automation I fear that the benefits will not be shared. One robot will make many people redundant, They will also bring manufacturing back home as that robot costs the same to run wherever it works. Efficiency means employing fewer people, which results in higher profits, while the unemployed are payed for by the general taxpayer and as we all know, large companies often pay very little tax. Oh how lucky I am to be a gold age pensioner of twenty eight years.