Most individuals experience a significant time lag in perceiving dramatic changes in the times.
The autonomous driving technology industry has been debating this for many years, but the vast majority of drivers don't pay attention to cutting-edge autonomous driving technologies.
Most of them are only concerned with their own income, their children's education, and how to alleviate physical fatigue and mental numbness.
I've come across sensationalist claims from science bloggers on platforms like Toutiao and Douyin, such as that future drivers will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
Truck drivers just glanced at it and forgot about it; they don't really believe that autonomous driving technology can replace humans.
However, when technological advancements genuinely impact their own interests, they will attempt to retaliate until they find they cannot go against the tide.
In the past, when ride-hailing services became popular and affected the interests of taxi drivers, taxi drivers often got into fights with ride-hailing drivers.
This only affected a portion of their interests.
Then there's no need to mention that truck drivers will be directly replaced by artificial intelligence.
Truck drivers work very hard, that's true, but they are also well paid.
In America, both Walmart and Amazon, online and offline "supermarkets," offer truck drivers very high salaries and benefits.
Before autonomous trucks became widespread, Walmart paid its truck drivers over 800,000 RMB.
These truck drivers, who lost their jobs due to technological advancements, would cause a scene almost every few days.
Many truck drivers even drive unlicensed trucks at the US-Mexico border to make a living, specifically targeting illegal immigrants.
"The mass unemployment of truck drivers is just a tiny episode in the grand scheme of things, barely even a snapshot of the dramatic changes brought about by technological advancements."
Similar incidents will become more and more frequent in the future.
Once autonomous driving technology enters civilian applications, the resulting unemployment figures will be even more staggering.
In my memory, the number of ride-hailing drivers on Uber alone in America is more than ten times the number of truck drivers.
Not to mention that Uber is a global company, and its ride-hailing drivers are even more numerous in China.
The unemployment of these people will lead to more serious social problems.
This is a problem that every entrepreneur and government must confront, and it is bound to happen in the future.
How can we create new job opportunities for those who have lost their jobs due to technological advancements?
Musk continued, "What I just mentioned are only the groups of people directly affected by technological advancements."
There are also many people who are indirectly affected by technological advancements.
For example, in the short term, it is unlikely that robots will replace human food delivery workers.
However, they will also be affected by autonomous driving technology.
After losing their jobs, many drivers choose to switch to food delivery work, which will lead to a decline in the industry's wages and benefits.
Things never exist in isolation; there are extensive and profound connections between them.
The host then asked, "Thank you very much, Mr. Musk, for your insightful remarks. Mr. Zheng, what are your thoughts on this?"
After a moment's thought, Zheng Li said, "I agree with Musk's point of view."
The industrialization of manufacturing through the Internet will inevitably lead to a large number of manufacturing workers losing their jobs.
Take our cooperation with Baosteel as an example. Baosteel has about 40,000 employees, and the smart steel plant we built together with Baosteel, Huawai and others has been widely promoted.
Only 5,000 people are needed to maintain twice the current production capacity.
Another 35,000 people will face unemployment and re-employment.
For China and the world, this is clearly not just a problem involving these 35,000 people; it will spread to the entire manufacturing industry.
This number should be multiplied by at least ten thousand.
Taking Baosteel as an example, according to Baosteel's annual financial report in 2013, they had 1,000 people, but this number changed to 1,000 people in the annual financial report in 2021.
It's worth noting that this was after Baosteel merged with Wuhan Iron and Steel in 2016.
The dramatic reduction in Baosteel's workforce over the past decade is mainly due to the company's refined management practices.
In the next decade or so, further downsizing will be primarily driven by technological advancements.
China is too big; during an economic upswing, the unemployment of Baosteel's workforce can be easily absorbed.
The host asked, "So how should we deal with this problem?"
The two entrepreneurs share such similar views on this matter.
This makes us worry about a potential wave of unemployment in the future.
Especially for a populous country like China, the manufacturing industry provides employment for a large number of people.
In the face of large-scale unemployment caused by technological advancements in the future, how can we better avoid this problem?
Musk stated bluntly, "This problem is unavoidable."
The main goal is to redirect the manufacturing workforce to the service sector.
The gap between the rich and the poor will become even more extreme worldwide.
The phenomenon of the strong getting stronger in the manufacturing sector will become increasingly serious, and a large number of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises will not be able to survive.
Tesla faces similar issues.
Whether it's Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai or its factories in other parts of the world, the future will be characterized by a continuous reduction in manpower.
Out of corporate responsibility, we will offer these employees who lose their jobs the opportunity to transfer to other positions internally, but as you know, such opportunities may not be many.
Many of these employees may still face job loss.
For China, the key considerations are to vigorously support the development of the service industry and to improve precision agriculture.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
