As I made the ballsy decision to get into photography full time, I wondered about its relevance in the next few years. I wondered about the relevance of so many other jobs in the next decade or two. If you haven’t been watching the blistering pace at which Artificial Intelligence (A.I) is rushing towards us, you should. They say 50% of jobs will go to A.I, just like the industrial revolution yanked away all the jobs that took muscle.
Mark Zuckerberg didn’t visit Kenya for the safaris or to say hi to us the faithful cult of Facebookers. Nope. He’s a man on a mission. The loon balloons our funky-eyed president announced during his initial Covid 19 update are not as innocent as the name portrays. They’re data mining instruments that will assist google assert their dominance in the inevitable age of surveillance capitalism and that’s not a conspiracy theory.
Data is the new oil my friend.
At the same time, I was having these low-key ominous thoughts, I journeyed back to the cave paintings by early man. Stay with me. Those early cave paintings were homo sapien’s first form of expression. They were works of art that we write about to this day. Obviously. This is to say, creativity and art will always have a place in whichever future so don’t panic yet.
Having balanced out those two scenarios, we face the future amid a highly unprecedented pandemic. No profession is safe in these new reality. Job security now sounds like a pipe dream and a ‘fundi’ had a unicorn baby. You know it’s an illusion but you really want it to be true just so you can see how it looks like and whether it flies. Do they shit confetti? Hmmm.
R2-D2 Now Gliding Around Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park
What I’m trying to say is, we must reinvent ourselves if we’re to stand a chance against A.I. As it stands, Disney has already launched an Artificial Intelligence (A.I) photographer at Disney Land. Basically, a robot behind a curtain saying “Cheese.” To be fair, we’ve had automated photo booths for decades now and photographers seem to have kept the majority of their gigs so far. I guess the age old habit of humans understanding nuance and feeling will not be replaced anytime soon. You’re not ready for R2-D2 ruining your wedding shots because a curious kid spilled some Fanta into his CPU. Is that what they’re called?
Anyway, I believe the warning signs are clear for all to see. And when I say all, I mean ALL. From truck drivers, to accountants, to artists, to deep sea divers. The current scenario sponsored by COVID 19 will be forcing the powers that be to re-evaluate how much they can get done without people. Let’s face it, the robots inside Amazon warehouses are not worried about face masks and the fate of their elderly mothers. They keep working through this pandemic and that makes the Jeff smile. There’s no turning back.
We must adapt. Darwinism is no longer about the fittest in muscle, rather, the fittest in adaptability. Some will say intelligence is what it takes to make it in this modern world but what if they’re wrong? Think Robin Williams, Isaac Newton, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson and list goes on. Probably the most intelligent beings in their craft yet they struggled with staying alive. A high IQ is not enough. Adaptability is, and my next blog will be laying out a few ideas on how to stay relevant in these uncertain times.
In the mean time, Keep Calm and Subscribe below for more of my random musings.