Eel Catcher Presages Future of Doctors and Lawyers
January 21, 2016
I read a poignant article called “The Last Eel Catcher: 3,000-Yo UK Tradition Comes to an End.” The write up points out:
Britain’s last traditional eel catcher announced his decision to stop the ancient practice because he “can’t live on empty pockets.”
Yep, McDo’s chicken nuggets or a vegan smoothie are raking in the dough.
I thought of the last eel catcher when I read “Davos: Doctors and Lawyers Could Be Replaced by Robots.” The business and governmental elite are thinking big thoughts about technology. I learned:
Andrew Moore, Dean of the school of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, said machines were already performing many “boring tasks of white collar work”, with computers able to sift through millions of legal documents to help lawyers prepare for cases. “One by one you are going to see that things we thought would require our own personal ingenuity can be automated,” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
I assume that’s why Goldman Sachs is jumping on the smart software bandwagon.
What will these displaced, highly paid, quite confident individuals do for a living. Eel catching is out. KFC is a possibility. I know that a few will light their entrepreneurial fires or drive an Uber car until autonomous vehicles make it big. The future could become more interesting for the docs and the legal eagles.
Stephen E Arnold, January 21, 2016
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