Technology Keeps Taking Over
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.
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.
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.
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