The All-Collar Crisis: When White Collar Work Meets Blue-Collar Reality
Hold onto your collars. The AI-generated crisis of work is here, and the storm will concentrate on white-collar workers from the professional economy. According to Julia Hobsbawm, founder of Workathon.io, these workers are about to experience the dismal reality of blue-collar redundancy. 50% of the US workforce will be freelance by 2030, some experts warn, making this transition the biggest shift in the nature of work since the Industrial Revolution. Humans can't be completely replaced by machines, Hobsbawm says. But enough will be replaced to create mass suffering — the same conditions that generated the revolutionary movements of the 19th century.
Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
The Phoenix Economy: Felix Salmon on work, life and the price of lobster rolls in the new not normal
The Cult of Celebrity: Landon Jones on how America has devolved into a culture of fans and followers
Why Night Vision is the Right Vision: Mariana Alessandri on how the natural human condition might might be to live in darkness, anger and pain
Decision Sprint: Atif Rafiq on whether innovation is an art or a science
A Scientific Theory of Complexity: Neil Theise on Connection, Consciousness and Being
:Why Smart Machines Know Us So Well: John Borthwick on how today's AI revolution is being built upon social media data
Can the GOP Win the Independent Vote? Carl Delfeld on how Republicans existential challenge of reaching non-aligned voters
We Plan, God Laughs: Emma Nadler on how good and bad luck, like laughter and tears, are often inseparably connected
That Was The Week in Tech: Keith Teare explains why all this week's King Canute style talk about regulating AI is equally absurd and impractical
Why Asian Start-ups Outside China Matter: Bernard Moon on innovation in South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam
The Traffic Drug: Ben Smith on the Internet's fatal addiction to viral traffic
Andrew Tate, Mr Beast, KSI and a Viral Flood of Toxic Masculinity: Henry Mance on what it means to be a boy online in 2023
Remembering the Beginnings of our Social Media Age: Julia Angwin on her earliest memories of the blogging "revolution"