CASCADING UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND ITS EFFECTS

摘要

Until recently, it was conventional wisdom that automation and machine-assisted thinking (AMAT) would provide more employment opportunities than it displaced. However, limits are emerging which are likely to end the surplus of new opportunities related to new technologies. Two factors underlie these limits: 1. Introduction into developing regions of technology beyond the capacity of these regions to adapt to its socioeconomic effects in an appropriate time frame; 2. Economic and environmental considerations constraining the growth in consumption that might otherwise accompany technological advances. As a result, AMAT may displace more jobs than it provides. These developments may trigger increasing underemployment and socioeconomic dislocations, raising a range of unprecedented ethical issues.