Our first reading for Media 6 is excerpts from Klaus Schwab, 2016, The Fourth Industrial Revolution. In the first excerpt, he outlines the mega-trends of this revolution, breaking them up into physical, digital and biological. A lot of the things that he mentions that are possible now and in the next 10 years I found astounding. Some of the things I had heard of through recent science-fiction media, such as genetic engineering and designer babies from the television series, Orphan Black, or advanced robotics and AI from the 2013 Spike Jonze film, Her.
The list of tipping points that he provides, which outline the technological milestones that will be available to the mainstream consumer in the next 10 years is also amazing. 3D printed livers?! What?!
Something that I guess is particularly relevant to me and media 6 is the changing relationship that humans will have with work and careers in the near future. Most work is between a worker and a company, but this is changing to accommodate the ‘on-demand economy’, where employers use the ‘human cloud’ to get workers to complete assignments/projects in their specialised skill. This is beneficial for the employers, because the workers are technically self-employed, so the employers do not need to provide employee rights, benefits, or even pay a minimum wage. This kind of work is beneficial for the workers because it allows freedom and mobility, but you must sacrifice workers rights for this. I spoke to my friend about it who is studying political philosophy and she said the name of this new class of workers is the Precariat. This is a social class of people with no job security or predictability.
This will be very important for people like me who are finishing their education and preparing to go into the workforce. An understanding of the changing work climate due to technological advances and innovations is a great asset, as Schwab states (and I paraphrase), whoever has the knowledge of the technology has the power to use it. My generation can use our knowledge of technology and digital media to navigate the workforce, and hopefully work towards implementing policy and regulations to make sure that people do not get exploited in this new realm and way of working.
Another science-fiction example I would like to mention that deals particularly with digital media, social media, privacy, citizens and employees of large media companies is the novel, The Circle by Dave Eggers. This book drew my attention to the fact that large media and tech companies can gain so much from technological innovation, but because policy, law and regulation are slow to keep up, people can easily be exploited by companies, rights can be lost, and lines can be crossed.
