Technology Keeps Taking Over

avatar
(Edited)

The technological era is upon us. Things are moving hot and heavy. If one is looking, it is easy to see the fallout from these technological advances.

In this article, we will focus upon two areas that were mentioned in the past but show how rapidly this is going.

image.png
Source

This decade is going to see a lot of impact at the societal level from technology. Here we are, a little over a year and a half in, and we are already seeing massive changes. COVID-19 only accelerated this process in the view of many and, based upon the shift over the past year, this appears to be the case.

Remote Work

This was originally called "work-from-home". However, it seems like this does not capture what will eventually unfold.

We are looking at a movement that is just beginning. Since the lockdowns were loosened, headlines were made by people refusing to return to the office. Employees got a taste of being home, albeit while working. For many hours were recaptured since the time spent getting ready and commuting were eliminated.

People found out they actually liked interacting with their family. The idea of being there when a child came home from school or being able to make an play or ballgame interested people. They knew that returning to the office would eliminate that.

This, of course, put pressure on employers. While many talked about the "new normal" during the lockdowns, it was suddenly back to the "old normal" from their perspective. Many major firms made headlines with their insistence that people return to the office. It is ironic that leading the charge were technology companies.

A major area of impact was upon commercial real estate. Companies looked at their footprint and questioned having all that high price, downtown area. With a large portion of the world force not in the office, many started to alter what they are doing.

State Street, a historic financial institution, decided to abandon New York City.

In an article in Barron's we see:

State Street Corp. is vacating its two Midtown Manhattan offices, becoming the latest financial firm to leave New York City.

This is another name in a long line of financial entities that are abandoning the Big Apple. Due to the high costs, these firms are relocating to less expensive havens.

Some financial companies began to question the value of having a Manhattan office considering New York City’s costs, taxes and uncertain recovery from the pandemic. A survey last year found that 25% of office employers planned to cut their presence in the city by 20% or more and 16% would move jobs to the suburbs or elsewhere.

State Street was able to sublet their leases which run through 2025. You can bet that, at that time, they will not renew them.

Workers for the company will either work from home or go to their satellite offices located outside the City.

Over time we can imagine this will be a large savings for the firm. It will also take a lot of money away from the remaining businesses in the city as well as ultimately hurt the tax base.

This is something that many major metropolitan places are facing.

Artificial Intelligence

Would you let a robot lawyer defend you?

This is the headline from an article on the BBC website [Would you let a robot lawyer defend you?](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58158820. It poses an interesting question.

We are also seeing how technology, specifically artificial intelligence, in creeping into areas that were previously thought off-limits.

To be fair, the majority of people who monitor the legal industry do not believe we are close to the point where AI will replace lawyers. However, it is opening up the door for them to use technology as a way to further enhance their practices.

The reason for this is because we are seeing the software advance at such a pace. It is resulting in work being done a lot quicker, thus reducing costs.

One such lawyer is Sally Hobson, a barrister at London-based law firm The 36 Group, who works on criminal cases. She recently used AI in a complex murder trial. The case involved needing to quickly analyse more than 10,000 documents.

The software did the task four weeks faster than it would have taken humans, saving £50,000 in the process.

Lawyers using AI for assistance is "becoming the norm and no longer a thing that's nice to have", says Eleanor Weaver, chief executive of Luminance, which makes the software Ms Hobson uses.

While this might not affect the prospects of the lawyer's employment, it certainly has an impact upon those who are dependent up on the research being done for their paycheck. Of course, this is what automation does. This is not, however, an isolated situation.

More than 300 other law firms in 55 countries also use it, working in 80 languages.

There is one person who thinks robotic lawyers might be closer than we think. He is the founder of DoNotPay. This is a software that was designed by a teenager because he got too many parking tickets.

Joshua Browder describes his app DoNotPay as "the world's first robot lawyer".

It helps users draft legal letters. You tell its chatbot what your problem is, such as appealing against a parking fine, and it will suggest what it thinks is the best legal language to use.

"People can type in their side of an argument using their own words, and software with a machine learning model matches that with a legally correct way of saying it," he says.

Source

The company now boasts 150,000 pay subscribers.

Could this be the future?

Some believe computer judges will be a reality, especially in those countries were there are still millions of unheard cases. If the software keeps improving, we could see much of the legal system automated. There will always be those situations where a human is required. Nevertheless, many of the routine stuff could be handled by AI.

Both of these are examples of radical shifts that are occurring due to technology. No matter how you break things down, it is taking over. Software along with improved communication systems are obliterating practices that were in many different industries.

This has impact on many different levels. Outside of employment, it also affects investing, real estate, and government planning. There are also a host of other industries affected for the loss of workers in the office.

All of this will take a major tool by the middle of the decade. The next few years are going to see these trends continue. By the time 2025 rolls around, many industries will be a shell of what they once were.


If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and rehive.

gif by @doze

screen_vision2025_1.png

logo by @st8z

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta



0
0
0.000
19 comments
avatar

pixresteemer_incognito_angel_mini.png
Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 69 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
!BEER
11

0
0
0.000
avatar

Even right here it was recorded that some children were jus getting to see the way there dad looks like due to the lockdown because at normal working periods in Lagos you beat traffic early above 5:30 am and the kids are still sleeping so I believe technology has helped the world more especially in this this season of covid


Posted via proofofbrain.io

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah some messed up stuff when you hear about situations like that.

It will be better for all if we can changes things a great deal.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000
avatar

[an article on the BBC website](Would you let a robot lawyer defend you?)

I think you forgot to link the article.

I am wondering when everything will move online. A virtual store will work out just as well when VR starts becoming more mainstream. You also only need fewer workers since its only one or two different places.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000
avatar

Congratulations @taskmaster4450le! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You distributed more than 40000 upvotes.
Your next target is to reach 41000 upvotes.
You have been a buzzy bee and published a post every day of the week.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

To support your work, I also upvoted your post!

0
0
0.000
avatar

I have mostly worked from home since the outbreak, I sometimes to the office. I should say that I have got used to work from home. Right, getting ready and commuting would take me two hours at least.

Neverthless, I want to back to pre-pandemic normal.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Would you let a robot lawyer defend you?

hell yeah, I would love to have a robot as mayor of my town, it would be better managed for sure.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000
avatar

I really like the idea "remote work". I think that everyone should work how and where it is convenient for him. Good post

0
0
0.000
avatar

Artificially intelligent research assistance? I guess the position of paralegal may become a thing of the past. That is how things go I guess.

The same situation took place during the first industrial revolution and its automation inventions.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000
avatar

I would say paralegal is on the way out.

We will see how long it takes but this is likely the last generation of them trained.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000
avatar

Take a human with a back up AI any day but not the other way around. I am still hesitant on AI replacing certain roles as understanding and spotting weaknesses or a personality could be vitally important. The research makes more sense right now though as that is money saved along with time.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

0
0
0.000