Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future (52 page)

increase in memory capacity,
63–64

innovation and improvements in,
69–73

predictions of impact of,
31–32
,
33–34

S-curve of,
69
,
70–71

construction industry, 3D printing and,
180–181

Consumer Price Index (CPI),
38n

consumer robots,
197n

consumers

Chinese,
223–227

demand and,
196–197

permanent income hypothesis,
210–211

workers as,
193–194
,
196–198
,
221–222

consumer spending,
54

consumer spending/consumption,
200
,
202n

demand and,
196

guaranteed income and,
269–270

income inequality and,
xvi–xvii
,
198–202

Cornell University, Creative Machines Lab,
108

corporate profits

financial sector,
55

recovery from Great Recession and,
39–40
,
202
,
203

as share of GDP,
40
,
202
,
203

correlation
vs.
cause, big data and,
88–89
,
102

costs

health care,
160–174

higher education,
140

Coursera,
133
,
136

Cowen, Tyler,
65
,
123
,
126n

CPI.
See
Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Craigslist,
95

Creative Machines Lab (Cornell University),
108

creativity, machines demonstrating,
108–113

credential inflation,
252

credentials, higher education,
142

Crichton, Michael,
244

crowd sourcing,
95

“The Cult of Kurzweil” (Geraci),
235

curiosity, machines demonstrating,
108–113

cyber attack, cloud robotics and,
22–23

Cyberdyne,
157

cybernation,
30

“cyborg,”
106

Cycle Computing,
104–105

Cynamon, Barry,
199
,
200
,
214

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
149

“Darci” software,
112–113

DARPA.
See
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

debt

deflation and,
217

financial crisis and,
218–219

income inequality and consumer spending,
214

ratio to income,
199–200

Deep Blue computer,
xiv
,
97–98
,
122

deep learning,
92–93
,
121
,
231

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
80
,
181–183

deflation,
216–217

Delta Electronics, Inc.,
10

Delta Cost Project,
140

demand,
196–197

in China,
223–227

productivity and,
207–208

Democrats, income distribution preferred by,
47n

design philosophy,
254–255

developing countries,
10–12
,
25
,
78–79

diagnostic tool, repurposing Watson as,
102–103

digital computer, effect of,
33–34

digital divide,
78

digital economy, long-tail opportunities in,
76–78

DiNardo, Courtney,
148

disruptive technology,
xviii
,
66

division of labour,
73

Dow News Service,
113–114

Drexler, K. Eric,
241–242
,
243
,
244–245
,
246
,
247

driverless cars,
See
autonomous cars

drone-based delivery,
190n

drug prices,
170–171

Drum, Kevin,
188

Dunning, David,
18–19

dystopian future, automation and predictions of,
31–32
,
219–220

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC),
271
,
277

eBay,
16
,
76

economic argument for guaranteed income,
264–267

economic growth,
65
,
212–215

economic mobility, decrease in,
46–47

economic policy,
57–58
,
217–218

Economic Policy Institute,
127
,
158

economic recoveries, jobs created during,
49–50

economics, mathematical models and,
x
,
205–206

economic trends

bear market for labor/bull market for corporations,
38–41

declining incomes and underemployment for college graduates,
48–49

effect of information technology on,
58–61

income inequality,
46–48

job creation, jobless recoveries, and long-term unemployment,
43–46

labor force participation,
41–43

polarization and part-time jobs,
49–51

stagnant wages,
34–38

economists

on impact of automation,
60

on income inequality,
202–206

economy

complexity of,
211–212

defined,
266n

effect of climate change on,
282–283

post-scarcity,
247

e-Discovery software,
124

Edison, Thomas,
234

education

basic income guarantee and,
263

collaboration with machines and,
121–128

diminishing returns to,
250–253

effect on income,
48–49

nature of unemployment problem and,
249–250

See also
higher education

educational robots,
7

edX,
132
,
133
,
137

Egypt,
46

EITC.
See
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Elance,
95

El Camino Hospital (Mountain View, CA),
154

elder-care robots,
155–158

electricity, information technology compared to,
72–73

electronic offshoring,
59
,
116

Elysium
(film),
219–220
,
220n

email response program,
93–94

Emanuel, Ezekiel,
164

emerging economies, consumer demand in,
223–227

employment

autonomous cars and,
176
,
181–191

nanotechnology and,
246

offshoring and,
119–121

relationship between technology and,
175–176

3D printing and,
176
,
177–181

See also
unemployment

Employment Policies Institute,
14

Engines of Creation
(Drexler),
242
,
244

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer),
32n

environmental degradation, economic insecurity and,
283–284

equity endowments,
273–275

ESPN,
201

essays, machine grading of,
129–131

eugenics,
236n

“Eureqa,”
108–109

Europe, college graduates overqualified for occupations in,
251

European Union, job polarization and,
50

Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing
(Lipson),
180

Facebook,
xvi
,
89
,
92
,
106
,
114
,
137
,
152
,
175
,
231
,
236

factory reshoring,
8–12

Fallows, James,
71

Fantastic Voyage
(Kurzweil & Grossman),
235