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  • My comments on predictions

    Posted by sonia on March 3, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    Considering that the author wrote this article almost 4 years ago, I believe that his predictions were not and are not so far from what has happened and is happening in the reality, if we talk about software, electric cars or online digital courses.

    At the same time, I disagree on the speed and ease with which this new technologies will impact our world, especially in some areas mentioned like law and health, where human activity will remain fundamental in my opinion; or energy, where hidden powers could influence the penetration of more sustainable sources due to interests of another nature.
    Furthermore, it could be true (my curiosity: what is the source of this information?) that 70-80% of jobs will be useless in the next 20 years (most of the drivers for example), but it is equally unlikely that we’ll be able to convert the skills currently present in the job market into those we need in the same time frame…
    In a nutshell, human trends are more complex than simple linear or exponential curves!

    Finally, I think the author reckons the progress of technology, without considering the change that must follow with regards regulation, that usually has tremendous slowness and complexity. Just think about responsibilities in case of accidents with autonomous cars (even if less frequent!) or all the concerns about data protection in case of Facebook facial recognition software or other apps that collect any information regarding the person…

    Kerin replied 4 years, 8 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • Kerin

    Administrator
    March 4, 2020 at 9:19 am

    Exactly. I think if we had read this when it was first written, we may have thought it was far-fetched. But in reality, much of what he predicted has come true.

    I hope too that human activity will remain fundamental. I actually googled ‘will lawyers become obsolete’ after reading this article the first time, because i couldn’t imagine it. However, after reading several articles I realised it is a possibility. Maybe (and hopefully!) not in our lifetime!

    Lastly, your concluding thoughts are very similar to what Chiara mentioned – I think you’ll find this forum interesting> https://hub.englishdigitalacademy.com/forums/topic/exponential-age/

    Notes: this is a wonderfully discerning piece Sonia. You’ve used some rich vocabulary and your connectors are top! Excellent work.

    Some feedback:
    – Your first sentence is very long. To make it more natural you could break it up with some commas and divide it in two. Something like this:
    Considering that the author wrote this article almost 4 years ago, I believe that his predictions were not, and are not, so far from what has happened and is happening in the reality. Especially if we are talking about software, electric cars or online digital courses.

    this new technologies = these

    – with regards regulation = with regards to

    Exponential Age

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