DIGITAL DIVISION

>The majority of us are blissfully unaware of the true impact digital technology will have on our livelihoods.
In this age of information democracy, it is high time we had an inclusive debate.

Image credit: ​Hernan Sanchez - Unsplash

​Six weeks ago, I was in a cab in London. Actually, no. I was in Andre's car - an Uber. Andre had an extremely nice car for an UberX. Smartly dressed sporting a waistcoat and a tie, he took my case, opened my door for me and even hung my coat on the hook. This wasn't your common or garden UberX. They are normally somewhat beat up Priuses. This car, attire and treatment is usually reserved for Uber Exec. His driving also excellent. Andre was very different.

"Sorry, I don't have a business card." when I asked for his details for next time. I was surprised. "...but if you need a ride, just tap for an Uber and you'll have a car within minutes!". Andre embraced Uber 100%. In his mind driver ratings were an just reward, even for his extra efforts. I guess he must've thought that serendipity would take care of business and repeat custom. What terrific trust in his employer! Except, as far as Uber are concerned, he isn't an employee. What a great work ethic! This though isn't another piece on Uber's use of regulatory and tax loopholes. The real issue is deeper, way below the surface.

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To Uber, Andre isn't just a driver. He's a creator and curator of information: location, speed and to some extent behaviour. But, of course he has no idea whatsoever. Along with all Uber drivers, he is creating information that will be used to teach the artificial intelligence algorithms set to power autonomous vehicles. Andre is contributing to the elimination of his own job, but is blissfully unaware of it.

Like Amazon in commerce, Google in search and Facebook in engagement, the winners will be those with data to train and refine the algorithms. For this example of transportation, I believe that Uber have the most control over that data at source.

Today, location, speed and behaviour are all being tracked simply via the driver's mobile device. In the future there will be much more ... another post for that one. I am no luddite, I am not against this. I love the convenience of Uber. The many drivers I've spoken to around the world, love the flexibility and convenience too. Sure, there are drivers who don't, but unscientifically it does seem to be a win/win - for now.

Of interest:

- Uber created an AI Lab.

- Uber is busy preparing a huge fleet of autonomous vehicles: wanting to buy every self-driving Tesla.

- Tesla are likely do it for themselves. So, Uber plumped for Mercedes - for time being...

But, Uber is just one example. Contrary to popular belief this isn't just limited to occupations such as transport/logistics, hospitality or labouring or the service industry. Knowledge industries such as healthcare, legal, financial services, education and even technology itself are also being heavily impacted.

The point to all of this is that society is sleep-walking into the situation. Policy, legislation, regulation: the public debate just isn't happening. As a result, workers in all fields have their eyes wide shut to what is really going on.

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"It's nothing new!" I hear you say. To some extent I agree. We have always used tools and automation to become more productive from the plough to steam power. The real difference here is the pace of change.  Until now, our value as workers has been in what we produce and our productivity. As we are ever-more connected, with every move and every interaction we create massive amounts of data. Never before has it been possible to capture our experience, knowledge and reasoning so rapidly - not until this decade. Once harnessed and processed the data becomes information; it becomes a business asset.

This is inequality. Because those who know and see these things, those who have the time and inclination to lift their heads up from making a living to join the dots: they see this. Most business leaders driving this revolution forward see it - whether consciously or otherwise. But, the population at large simply doesn't.

Given that today so many of us are connected, isn't it time we at least started to talk about this? In fact, time is running out.|