Random Thoughts On Disruption

Technological advancement occurs at an accelerating rate. That is not a new concept. The nature of it is that some is good and some is not. This list is so short it's not even enough things to call it a partial list but you get the idea. We each need to figure out the ways in which disruption helps us and how it hurts because there will be some of both.

1. Banking

Hugh Hendry was quoted by Yahoo as saying that because of how quickly we can move money with our phones, Banking 1.0 is now over and he's not entirely sure what Banking 2.0 looks like. Can peer to peer lending through our phones or in the metaverse or something else eliminate the banks? If so, that is a lot of jobs that would disappear.

2. Travel Agents

They still exist but there used to be a lot more of them. The need is long gone and for however many jobs this industry used to provide, soon all those jobs will gone.

3. Doctors

There are apps that are starting to disrupt the medical profession. People can take their own vital signs, go get bloodwork done and I am sure that some sort of tech, AI or otherwise, can assess the results. If the bloodwork reveals a problem then that's where the doc could come in. This could be a positive development in terms of less of a bottleneck for getting care.

4. Recording Real Estate Transactions

When NFTs first became a thing, one of the idea I heard was about house titles being NFTs. I don't fully understand how that would work but there are others who do. That seems like a lot of jobs too that would disappear.

5. Entertainment

Whatever the details of the current writers strike, there have been questions along the lines of whether AI could write TV and movies. The answer is yes. I asked chatGPT to write episodes of Northern Exposure and NYPD Blue. They weren't very good but it is still very early in the game for AI.

6. Taxis

Uber and Lyft have been a round for awhile.

7. Office Buildings

There are many news reports about empty office buildings and the potential economic fallout as many workers are being allowed to work from home. This is something to pay attention to for potential defaults. That has already started but thus far is not widespread.

8. Investment Advisors

This is what I do for a living. Whatever you do, it is worth understanding how innovation could disrupt you right out of a job. It's an easy path to see most of my work being made obsolete.

9. How We Get News

Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and others used to be very relevant. Now, whoever anchors the evening network news holds no social relevance. We can get news on the internet and even how news is reported is different, people recording something with their phones is how we get a lot of news video.

10. Food Delivery

No more restaurants? Maybe just a kitchen with far fewer employees.