Historically, times where there have been excess liquidity and new technical development along with a labour shortage result in an Industrial Revolution. We have all of these things right now.
Consider that newcomen’s engine was based on prior engines, and itself wasn’t that much of a success - but everything that followed was explosive in terms of the changes wrought on society and industry. The technology was interesting, but as long as you could pay a few blokes to man the pumps, installing an expensive engine and buying coal to power it wasn’t an economical route to follow. When the triangle trade had accumulated enough wealth with nowhere to go other than gilding, and when the workforce started emigrating to the colonies to escape their miserable conditions or getting shot on the plains of Europe, and the remaining souls started demanding Real Money, suddenly, those new-fangled engines looked like a sensible investment.
Which technology will be our next revolutionary step is up for debate, but I would (and have) place my chips on AI/ML. The last few rounds have been all about the decoupling of unskilled and semi-skilled labour from productivity. Next up on the block is skilled labour. Why would you hire developers or lawyers or diagnosticians or any knowledge worker for $stupid per annum, when you can spend a bit more, and never have to pay a human again?
Consider that newcomen’s engine was based on prior engines, and itself wasn’t that much of a success - but everything that followed was explosive in terms of the changes wrought on society and industry. The technology was interesting, but as long as you could pay a few blokes to man the pumps, installing an expensive engine and buying coal to power it wasn’t an economical route to follow. When the triangle trade had accumulated enough wealth with nowhere to go other than gilding, and when the workforce started emigrating to the colonies to escape their miserable conditions or getting shot on the plains of Europe, and the remaining souls started demanding Real Money, suddenly, those new-fangled engines looked like a sensible investment.
Which technology will be our next revolutionary step is up for debate, but I would (and have) place my chips on AI/ML. The last few rounds have been all about the decoupling of unskilled and semi-skilled labour from productivity. Next up on the block is skilled labour. Why would you hire developers or lawyers or diagnosticians or any knowledge worker for $stupid per annum, when you can spend a bit more, and never have to pay a human again?