I had a seat on the technology roller coaster over the past 40 years or so. So, I’ve seen the slow pace of change in the beginning and the exponential growth we’re now seeing. I’m afraid I’m more pessimistic or, taken from another perspective optimistic about the chance that Schumpeter’s Creative Destruction will continue to effectively mitigate the impact of technology on socio-economic stability. For example, artificial intelligence driven deep learning systems are improving at a pace greater than that Moore’s Law historically set. This is leading to rapid improvements in both AI assisted software development and fully AI driven development (humans need not apply).

It may seem premature to many, but we must begin thinking about how society and capitalism will change because of the displacement of human labor. Joe Biden’s well-meaning encouraging words to coal miners are a clear indication of how unprepared we are for what is unfolding. We are automating away swaths of workers in industries that used to fuel the middle class. Technology has already become so sophisticated that our brightest scientists no longer know how it functions.

Now might be a good time to begin thinking not only about the small percentage of people with the capacity to direct and govern a technology that’s quickly becoming smarter than we are. But, also the hundredsubi of millions of people worldwide who’s capacity lies in an area undergoing disruption the likes of which humanity has never before experienced.