HISTORICAL PERSECTIVE ON TECHNOLOGY AND THE COMING SINGULARITY
POINT

                            THE
ETHICS ENVELOP FOR THE CIO, CTO, CIO, CKO.

PREMISE: the rise of technology has always in the past created
opportunity if not an economic challenge which changed the economic
parameters of the society.

EXAMPLE: the development of the automobile, put out of work
people who were engaged in caring for horses for
transportation.  The development of farming mechanization
pushed farmers to the city because of job losses ; increasing
automation in manufacturing pushed workers out of manufacturing and
into the services business. Globalization creates short term
unemployment as workers transitioned; however, new jobs were
created and dispossessed workers found new opportunities.

OBSERVATION: endings of jobs and beginning of new jobs created a
goldilocks period; however this period of productivity and rising
wages began to dissolve in the 70s. As for 2013 (last year of good
data), workers earned 10-14% less than in 1973 (adjusting for
inflation) but productivity rose by 107% . Interesting the US
economy must create one million jobs per year to keep up with
growth in the size of the workforce. So it seems the US have lost
over ten million jobs in the last years. Worse is the income
inequality has increased and the productivity increases are being
held by business owners and investors.

New News: Stephen Hawking in May 2014, wrote an article on the
dangers of Artificial Intelligence/Robotics. Clearly it seems that
the creation of a thinking machine that exceeded human level
intelligence will be capable to outsmart financial markets,
researches (see Watson in Medicine) and weapon technology. This can
be achieved because of the coming together of robotic technology
and the role of big data. This coming together, creates a
singularity point which really means we reach a point where human
progress would be opaque (Vernor Vinge) until it occurred. So
predicting the future beyond that singularity point would not be
possible.

The Conundrum: the rise of AI, Big Data, and Robotics will of
necessity replace all labor that is manual. Industrial Percention
Inc, has created a robot that is able to move boxes faster than a
human at a rate of one every 6 seconds. Tesla’s plant in California
uses 160 robots to assemble about 400 cars per week. The robots are
able to change tools to install seats, apply adhesives, etc. The
International Federation of Robotics, has sales of over 28 bills
dollars in 2012 and the fastest growing market is China. All of
this means that routine factory jobs will disappear. In 1980 the
textile factory “Parkdale Mills” would employ 2000 employees at the
current level of production, today it employs 140 at the same level
of production. The difference is maintained by a robotic
environment. Today we know that according to the Boston Consulting
Group, companies with sales exceeding 10 billion in sales are
pursuing robotic implementation and this will bring back factories
to the US.

The Expectation: as we slide to the singularity point, more and
more people will be out of work, production will not be decreased,
and society will change but how. What is the ethical or moral steps
that your company and society must take if this comes to fruition?
What will be the support system for the unemployed, when 80% of
society could be unemployed? Friedrick Hyek, in his work on “Law,
Legislation and Liberty (1973), suggested that workers and
non-workers should be given a guaranteed income. Given this how
would your company and society manage this? What rules would be put
in place at the point of singularity. Create a scenario and justify
your perspectives given the philosophical and ethical principles
that we have previously discussed:

There are 6 ethical principles

Golden rule

Categorical Imperative

Rule of change

Utilitarian Principle

Risk Aversion Principle

No Free Lunch Principle

Finally economist and technology experts believe that this all
can take place in the 2045 time period. It can affect you and
certainly your children. Education and skill training will NOT
fulfill the gap that is predicted. How do we manage that
environment, what will society look like.

1.summarize the case in 3 sentences.

2.how would you fix the resultant problem.

3.what will society look like.