I read posts and articles on how AI will reshape society.

I read posts and articles on how AI will reshape society. Nihil sub sole novi, nothing new under the sun. Since the invention of Watt’s parallelogram in 1782 automation has reshaped society many times. From 1800 the employment in agriculture in industrialized countries dropped from 50-60% to the actual value generally below 5%. Industrial processes have been completely reshaped by automation. Employment in manufacturing dropped from 30-35% in 1900 to less than 10 % today.

Engineering has been completely reshaped by computer applications such as CAD and structural analysis. Entire new professional sectors have been created from production of software to electronic-based entertainment.

Many technologies have been industrialized initially for military purpose. However, most changes happened due to profit seeking enterprises. The quest for profit has not always produced socially beneficial changes.

For most of the 1900 industrial profit depended on a growing consumer basis. However, in the last three decades, the creation of profit is increasingly independent from the consumption of salaried workers.

Now comes AI. What will happen depends on how societies will evolve. Western economies are already dual, rich-poor economies, where profits and growth are concentrated in a small fraction of the population. AI might accelerate this trend, but it is not its key determinant. Economies are finite systems that cannot grow forever exponentially. Currently the situation is already critical. The buffet ratio has surpassed 220 and some individuals have personal wealth numerically equivalent to 40-50% of the GDP of countries such as Italy or Russia.