This blog post takes an in-depth look at the hidden issues of inequality and alienation behind the prosperity brought by technological advancement, examining them from various perspectives.
We are truly living in an age of abundance. Industries that achieved great progress after the Industrial Revolution are now making another major leap forward through the development of digitalized technology. Technologies we once considered science fiction are gradually becoming reality. Self-driving cars that require no human driver have already been developed, and AI assistants like Siri play important roles in our daily lives. Furthermore, in logistics warehouses, instead of people manually moving goods as before, multiple machines now handle logistics through sophisticated movements. Thanks to these changes, we enjoy a more convenient and efficient life, and their influence permeates every corner of our daily existence.
Even when viewed from a broader perspective, such as economic indicators, rather than focusing on individual technologies in isolation, it becomes clear how profoundly technological advancement has transformed our lives. Labor productivity is increasing at an ever-accelerating pace, with workers producing more in less time. GDP grows year after year, and intangible assets not included in GDP are also expanding. Intellectual assets, organizational capital, user-generated content, and human capital continue to expand both quantitatively and qualitatively. There is no dispute that technological progress enriches our lives.
However, the author of ‘The Second Machine Age’ points out the underlying problems existing within these benefits of technological advancement. While it is true that productivity is surging as technology advances, it is simultaneously replacing human labor, causing the value of workers to gradually decline. Technology has fundamentally evolved to perform human tasks more efficiently, and it has now reached a level where it threatens human occupations themselves. This is why technology inevitably becomes a ‘substitute’. Particularly with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), machines are gradually taking over not only simple repetitive tasks but also those requiring professional judgment, reducing the role of humans. Experts predict that by 2045, artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence.
The changes brought by technological advancement do not only affect workers’ jobs. In fact, technology is having a profound impact on various structures and cultures within society. For example, AI-based recommendation algorithms influence the information and content we encounter daily, altering even the ways people communicate. These changes are also significantly transforming how we consume information. Now, rather than information circulating based on individual choices, people are increasingly likely to be exposed to information curated by specific technologies. Consequently, people tend to focus only on information they prefer, reducing opportunities to encounter new perspectives and raising concerns about a shrinking social diversity.
Even now, technological advancement threatens humanity’s prosperity. While the wages of middle-income workers, often referred to as the middle class, have barely increased over recent decades, the incomes of those in the top 1% have skyrocketed. A small number of designers and engineers who develop technology that replaces human labor—or more accurately, performs it better—become billionaires, while many people in those professions become unemployed because they are no longer competitive. Differences in educational attainment lead to differences in demand, and wage gaps are widening. This skill-biased technological change is deepening income inequality, and the wealth gap is gradually expanding.
Moreover, consumers, whose choices have broadened due to technological progress, can now enjoy the best products with a single selection. Whereas in the past, limited supply in competitive markets meant paying 80% wages to workers capable of 80% performance, now only the best technology is chosen, creating a so-called ‘winner-take-all’ market. The benefits of technological progress are not being distributed evenly across society but are concentrated among a specific minority, causing the middle class to gradually lose its position.
Andrew McAfee stated in a lecture, “The development of Android frees us from hard and monotonous work.” If technological advancement allows humans to escape from simple labor, the time previously spent on such tasks could be redirected toward creative and innovative work. This means creators and innovators can generate better ideas for societal progress and engage in productive discussions. In other words, technological advancement can become a tool that unlocks infinite possibilities for human societal development by providing humans with ‘opportunities to focus’.
However, as seen in the Luddite movement, the introduction of new machinery also brings anxiety about unemployment to existing workers. Just as factory workers feared machines would take their jobs back then, today the combination of big data and artificial intelligence threatens even more job categories. Particularly with the advancement of AI response systems, projections suggest areas like counseling services will gradually require less human labor. While some optimistically believe new occupations will emerge alongside new technologies, the reality is that new jobs created rarely match the number of jobs replaced by technology.
Technology alone cannot guarantee human happiness through mere economic growth. Even if overall income increases, if the benefits are concentrated only among specific groups and the lives of the middle and lower classes do not improve, the gains from technological progress become nothing more than a privilege for the few. As disparities continue to widen, social mobility becomes increasingly difficult, and the likelihood of economic inequality leading to political inequality also rises. A structure that serves only the interests of a small elite can never be stable. When social equilibrium collapses, technological progress itself becomes unlikely to lead to genuine human happiness.
In conclusion, while technological advancement has laid the foundation for human prosperity and abundance thus far, it can no longer guarantee human happiness on its own. The author does not advocate halting technological progress itself. Rather, we must not merely look at economic indicators and be optimistic about the future. We must confront the underlying social problems and strive to build a stable society through the resolution of inequality and the equalization of opportunities. Only then can we create a healthy society where everyone can enjoy the true benefits of technological advancement.
