Which Way, L.A.?
Should We Blame Technology for High Unemployment?
When two researchers at MIT started a book to be called The Digital Frontier, they were optimistic that technological innovation would increase productivity, and that would mean new jobs. But their inquiries led in a very different direction. From farms to factories, and now to the service economy, human workers are losing their jobs to machines.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readWhen two researchers at MIT started a book to be called The Digital Frontier, they were optimistic that technological innovation would increase productivity, and that would mean new jobs. But their inquiries led in a very different direction. From farms to factories, and now to the service economy, human workers are losing their jobs to machines. The "creative destruction" that used to increase employment is working the other way around: productivity is on the rise, but it's not creating many new jobs. As computers become more sophisticated, how can humans learn to compete?
Segment Image: A traveler undergoes a full body scan performed by Transportation Security Administration agents at the Denver International Airport. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
