Technology alone is not enough to achieve real productivity

Brynjolfsson warns of the “Turing trap” of trying to completely replace human labor with machines. This could lead to wealth and power being concentrated among technology owners and weaken workers’ economic and political bargaining power. “Because when you replace human labor with machines, wages go down, human labor becomes less valuable, and wealth and power are concentrated among the owners of capital or technology.”

In this case, “people who have lost their economic bargaining power will also lose their political bargaining power.”

Instead, he calls for machines to be designed to complement and extend human capabilities. “If you have machines that complement humans rather than replace them, not only will you create much more value, but you’ll also have a higher ceiling, and you’re more likely to share the wealth.”

When asked about the role of managers in this process, the economist emphasizes that they should ask themselves the following questions – “How can I do something new that has not been done before?” or “How can I improve the work in new ways of quality?” Ultimately, it is about employees being able to do their work “better, faster and more productively” and not completely automating their work.