The shockwaves of the financial crisis in 2008 saw the world’s leading industrial countries, the G20, come together to rescue global economies on the brink of total collapse. The crash may be behind us but, more than a decade later, the scale of the challenge facing world leaders at this year’s summit in Osaka is no less daunting and no less urgent.
The agenda is ambitious: tackling the climate emergency and plastic pollution; overcoming global health and gender inequalities; adapting to the rapid changes in the world of work. These are serious problems that left unresolved risk irreparably damaging our planet, our economies, and the very foundation of our societies. Addressing these issues head-on is a chance to build confidence in what the future holds in store.
There’s no question: the future has looked bleak of late. As global inequalities have grown, the rise of nationalism and populism has shown that our societies are fragmented by a distrust in our politics and a distrust in one another. The social contract that binds us is fundamentally broken.
And yet, we are in the midst of the greatest period of innovation and prosperity in human history. Technological advancements are transforming our societies, driving economic growth and wellbeing. We live in an age where we can cure diseases that once seemed incurable, where we can create energy out of thin air. And a new industrial revolution beckons, one propelled by the collective force of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and big data that will reshape nearly every aspect of the modern world.By harnessing the power of this Fourth Industrial Revolution, we can not only respond to our most pressing challenges – we can create an economy that works for both people and our planet.
With this power, however, comes an enormous responsibility. Unchecked, the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution could deepen already stark divisions, undermine public trust and fracture our social contract even further.
Consider, for example, AI and facial recognition. Already ubiquitous in China, facial recognition technology is being trialled across the UK with little, if any, oversight. The results are troubling. These systems adopt existing societal biases and further entrench discrimination, as they are most likely to wrongly identify black people and women. This raises deeply worrying questions about our privacy and civil liberties, to say nothing of Orwellian mass surveillance.
Walk down to your local supermarket and the chances are you’ll use a self-checkout. This is just a small –though significant – example of the rapid transformations taking place in the world of work, where 1.5 million jobs in the UK, and some 14 per cent of jobs across the OECD, are at risk of automation. Rather than creating greater economic opportunities, the future of work could very well drive inequality, disadvantaging the poorest workers while the wealthiest reap the benefits.
We’ve seen how technology can disrupt people’s lives in other ways , enabling abusive behaviour online and even tipping the scales in closely fought elections. If we strip technology of any social responsibility we blindly surrender to its most dangerous excesses, eroding public trust and facilitating the spread of a dreary, dystopian populism of the disaffected.
So how can we harness the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s advancements to halt these disturbing trends rather than exacerbate them?
It starts by changing our politics. We need a hopeful vision for the future, powered by a strong, liberal voice that understands that the new economy can neither be left to its own devices or be overly-managed by the state. Rather, it must be harnessed for the benefit of everyone. And it must take the public with us, building trust by placing liberal values of privacy, accountability, and transparency at its core.
The UK can and must be at the forefront of this change, leading the G20 and the world in creating an ethical tech-led economy centred on social well-being and environmental sustainability. That means overhauling how our society works, valuing the strengths of empathy, passion, and resilience that make us human, while embracing technology as an indispensable ally in meeting our biggest challenges.
We’ve already seen this at work. AI is being used to analyse hospital records to prevent overbookings, improve staff resourcing and cut down on NHS waiting times. Earlier this month, the UK national grid went coal-free for a record stretch of 18 days, and broke the record for solar power generation. Meanwhile, we see places like Guildford replacing diesel with a fleet of electric buses, continuing a trend of autonomous and electric vehicles making our roads safer and the air we breathe cleaner.
To build confidence in our future and renew our broken social contract we also need to make sure that the right governance structures are in place so that as technology evolves, so too do our regulations. Policymakers will need to keep up with the pace of change to ensure that there are appropriate, evidence-based responses to technological advancements that will allow businesses to innovate while safeguarding citizens’ rights.
Most important of all, we need to recognise our own blind spots. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has incredible potential to transform the world for the better. And it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game where technology can only exist at the expense of our human freedoms, or vice versa. We need to have the courage to admit we don’t have all the answers to where the future will take us, and have confidence that our strong liberal values will help guide the way.
Jo Swinson is the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
