AI will take your job | Mark Cuban

Overview of Future Changes in Employment

• Predict significant changes over the next five to ten years, surpassing the last thirty.

  • Historical progression:

    • Transition from automation of pen and paper with spreadsheets.

    • Establishing local networks followed by internet connectivity.

    • Global communication via network effects.

  • Current trend: Introduction of machine intelligence (AI, machine learning, deep learning).

Automation of Automation

• The emergence of machine intelligence leads to the 'automation of automation.'

  • Lower-level programming roles (e.g., basic coding) are diminishing as software becomes self-writing.

  • Historical coding practices involved simple conditional logic ("if this, then that").

  • Evolution of coding to utilize libraries for complex automation;

    • This complexity is increasingly being automated.

Changing Nature of Work

• Shift from manual tasks to requiring knowledge of tool usage:

  • Workers must adapt to use the technology effectively.

  • The paradigm: "Either software works for you, or you work for software."

  • Understanding this shift is crucial to grasp changes in work and employment dynamics.

Impacts on Major Corporations

• Fortune 500, S&P 500, and Dow 30 companies aware of shrinking workforces.

  • The economics of supply and demand for stocks is evolving:

    • Supply of labor shrinking, demand increasing.

  • Positive outlook for stocks amidst negative implications for employment.

Historical Context and Future Predictions

• Job landscape shifted from massive employers (e.g., GM) to tech companies (e.g., Facebook).

  • Revenue per employee metrics starkly contrast across industries.

  • Rate of disruption is accelerating:

    • The timeline for job displacement is reducing (20 years to perhaps 3-5 years).

Permanent Changes in Employment

• Anticipate a permanent reduction in traditional jobs (manufacturing, coal mining).

  • Infrastructure projects may temporarily provide jobs but won’t change broader trends.

  • Recognizing the impending workforce challenges is essential.

Role of Education and Training

• Questioning the relevance of traditional adult education and job training models.

  • Concern over what skills to learn; tech will automate many finance and programming roles.

  • Likely increased demand for liberal arts graduates in the future:

    • Need for critical thinkers to interpret automated data outputs.

    • Importance of diverse perspectives in analyzing information.

Future Outlook for Liberal Arts Graduates

• Celebrating the potential rise in importance of humanities disciplines:

  • English, philosophy, and foreign languages may gain value in an automated landscape.

  • Not immediate but expected shift as job disruptions increase.

  • Addressing concerns for millions facing job displacement:

    • Need to devise strategies to manage waves of affected workers.