Experts, pointing out predictions that people will start becoming obsolete in a world with artificial intelligence and robotization in the coming time, say that while technology creates new jobs, it also eliminates many.
Sociologist Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, noting that artificial intelligence is changing business models, said, “The number of blue-collar workers is gradually decreasing. They are diminishing. The second wave of threat will be for white-collar workers. Artificial intelligence will do most office jobs.”
Head of Üsküdar University's Department of Sociology, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, evaluated the effects of artificial intelligence on human life.
There are jobs eliminated by artificial intelligence…
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, drawing attention to predictions that people will start to become obsolete in a world with artificial intelligence and robotization in the coming time, said, “This issue of obsolescence is really very important. People are especially optimistic about technology, saying; ‘Technology will find solutions to all our problems’. It does, but there are also jobs created by technology and jobs it eliminates. It creates many new job areas, but it eliminates many of them. It eliminates more than it creates.”
White-collar workers are also in danger
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, noting that artificial intelligence is also changing business models, said, “On one side, 100 jobs are lost, and 5 new jobs emerge. What will happen to the 95 people? How will we adapt? What will happen to the thousands of manual laborers working in sectors requiring less qualification? The number of blue-collar workers is gradually decreasing. They are diminishing. The second wave of threat will be for white-collar workers. Artificial intelligence will do most office jobs, most banking and analysis jobs; they have already started doing so.”
A significant portion of white-collar workers has also become obsolete…
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, also stating that artificial intelligence automatically replies to emails, said, “This gradually shows that a significant portion of white-collar workers has also become obsolete… Tomorrow or the day after, a large majority will think, ‘What will we do?’ How will money be earned, who will spend it? This is where obsolescence begins. You can’t produce, you can’t work and earn money, and because you can’t earn, you can’t consume. So what happens? You become useless for the system. ‘Useless’ is actually a polite term for it… In fact, there is a concept called ‘underclass’.”
How obsolete people will be entertained is an important question!
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, also stating that how obsolete people will be entertained has become an important question, continued:
“What will you do? You will play games. Drug use is increasingly rising globally. People scroll through social media for hours. Why do they look? Out of boredom, there’s less and less to do. In fact, we see traces of this in many dystopian novels and films. How do we see it? The ‘necessary’ live within a dome. Producers and consumers. And on the outskirts of the city, behind the wall, outside the dome, there's a pushed-aside army of the 'unnecessary'. The world is actually gradually transforming into that. How is it transforming? Ghettos are forming. Look at the city today; there are places with truly luxurious lives within the city. And there's a group outside of it that hasn't yet benefited from those advantages. Gradually, the jobs of those workers are also being done by robots. People who clean emerge. People who provide service emerge. Of course, there will be a need for people. They will keep as many as necessary for themselves, but what will happen to the unnecessary? That’s a very big question.”
“Now, games are being invented for the obsolete and unemployed to play for hours”
Referring to conspiracy theories, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan said, “It was also mentioned during Covid. Are they somehow killing the unnecessary? ‘For example, mostly the elderly died. Because they were eliminated by the system. They seemed like a burden.’ This is a conspiracy theory… Whether it's true or not is another matter. To prevent uprisings, you need to engage them somehow. With what? With games. And in these games, there’s no concept of time. Games played by workers in old times always had a duration. Football is 90 minutes. Why did they put a time limit on it? Because the worker takes a break occasionally, relaxes. So what’s the game of the rich? Golf, for example. There’s no time limit... You can play for hours. In the same way, now games are being invented for the obsolete and unemployed to play for hours.”
“We can direct the society of the future and not be unnecessary there”
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, pointing out the need to imagine in order not to repeat oneself, said, “Those who don't imagine repeat. Because you need to imagine, but what do you need to do to imagine? You need to read. You need to read mythology. If we go back to games, what is the secret of games? It contains Indian mythology. Greek mythology. Chinese. There are stories from the Old Testament. New Testaments, religions. History of religions. You need to know all of them for creative games to emerge. That's when billion-dollar industries happen. This is not just for games. It’s the same in cinema. All of them have literature, art, culture, and history in their subtexts. That's why, as humans, by knowing our past very well, we can direct the society of the future and not be unnecessary there.”
“Let’s imagine not to be unnecessary…”
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, also noting the importance of learning how to learn, concluded his words by saying, “Those who learn can survive. Knowing something well is not the issue. But how you access it is important. And what can I add on top of it? For that, dreaming is important. If we don’t dream, we are unnecessary. Let’s dream not to be unnecessary.”