The Fierce Change of the Digital-Now – Life after Coronavirus                           

 

by Perry C. Douglas

March 21, 2020

                                                                                                                         

On March 2, 2020 I wrote an article titled: “AI, and the Rise of the Creative Class—the Demise of the Useless Class”...the purpose of the article was to show the ever-increasing role Artificial Intelligence is playing in our daily lives. The core theme of the article was how the “future-of-work” is rapidly changing through AI. For those of you who are paying attention and already understand the growing impact of AI, you also know, that it will be the future driver of the global economy. As we are seeing from COVID-19, the world is a small place, therefore, one thing is certain—we must adapt to that world. The coronavirus lock down has brought the significance of digitization to the forefront. Those of us who can leverage digitization and can work from home, will make it through this crisis relatively smoothly; those that cannot, will experience challenging financial and anxious times.      

For the stubborn ones among us who choose to be adverse to keeping an open mind, and who may at one time, believed that the internet was a “fad,” let me put it to you this way: there is a very high probability that God himself believes in science too. Why else would he give humans such tremendous ability to create great things through scientific discovery and innovation? All musings aside, this is no laughing matter, it's also no time to be consumed by fear. As the ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu said, in his book The Art of War: “In the midst of crisis there is opportunity.” Therefore, we must recognize the significance of the moment—seize our opportunity, learn from it and figure out how our humanity can lead our innovations towards the common good. The COVID-19 crisis will surely speed up the pace of change, the future-of-work and how we fundamentally live. Accordingly, expect more digitally focused solutions and innovations to be developed going forward.

Adapting and preparing for an economy and lifestyle that is increasingly being executed through digital, is where we are headed--both local, and global societies. Don’t fear change however, its guaranteed to occur, instead embrace it and ride it towards your own personal prosperity. Some of the new realities may be new applications and requirements for employees’ job descriptions. However, the onus will remain on the employee to upskilling or re-skilling or looking towards retooling themselves, into creating an entirely new skill set. Nevertheless, often, human judgment may still be required and applied. Therefore, the ones who understand and can work with AI or information technology in general will be in demand. In short, these individuals who add economic value to corporate operations will simply be paid more, than the ones that don’t.  

The human condition is resilient, so this crisis too will pass. History teaches us that we've been great adapters to new and harsh environments, we learn to restructure our lives and use the tools we create in our favour: “Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.” These are the words of the late Steve Jobs. 

  

Millions of people are now losing their jobs—many because of the nature of their work, these jobs cannot be transitioned and be done at home. Schools have "sent kids home" because administrators “have-not-paid-attention” to change, and have not enhanced their digital infrastructure fast enough. The need for the virtual-classroom is obvious now, where learning can be done inside or outside of the classroom—without interruption. A long while ago, I incorporated online high-school courses into all my kid's curriculum. About 40% of their curriculum effectively carried out online—English, Math and Science in particular. Today, my youngest of three is left in high school, and regardless of the crisis, her learning and course completion will go uninterrupted. Furthermore, and as I write this very piece...she’s online with her math and science tutor (who usually visits our home, but due to COVID-19 lock down...is not) via a visual teaching software program called Zoom. Zoom allows the tutor to write on an electronic pad, simultaneously transcribed onto her computer screen, while both tutor and student maintain visual/verbal communication at the top right-hand corner of the screen. My daughter says it’s the same thing as her tutor sitting right next to her. Therefore, embracing the digital-now can put you, and your family at a competitive advantage going forward. Holistically, and positively improving your work, life and wealth. 

     

The Brookings Institution in Washington this month, laid out several macroeconomic scenarios due to COVID-19. The most concerning...the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronavirus would reduce US G.D.P. in 2020 by $1.8 trillion — 8.4 percent. However, most of the negatively affected individuals in the economy would fall on the more “manual-intense” side of employment, those sectors are not as digitized or able to effectively leverage the digital economy.  

Conversely, jobs in financial services for example, employees there can easily continue to manage their clients from home, electronically. The New York Stock exchange will cease floor trading on Monday because of COVID-19, but this does not make a single bit of difference, floor trading on the NYSE has been mainly symbolic for the longest time now. Computer trading systems are now run by algorithms/AI, which are firmly in control of trading. Investors can put their feet up, sit in their shorts and continue to invest throughout the crisis if they like—the rich will continue to get even richer, through the simple leveraging of digitization. 

In a recent article titled: “China Focus: Digital economy helps offset coronavirus impact.” “When some industries in China have been put into temporary stagnation due to the sudden coronavirus epidemic outbreak, the country's booming digital economy, however, is playing an increasingly important role in hedging economic risks and uncertainty.” In short, a meaningful part of China’s quick bounce back from COVID-19, can be directly attributed to their strong and rapidly growing digital economy. China has been intensely investing in the new digital-now for a while—so it won’t be a surprise, when we come out of this...China will be at the head of the pack. 

 

COVID-19 has made society more mindful of how our economy functions now and how it can optimally function in the future. It has also highlighted the many risks and rewards that exist in our economy. Those risk/reward dynamics of living an “analog existence” vs. embracing the digital-now, is becoming abundantly clearer, and more quantifiable. Therefore, one thing is now certain...the post coronavirus world is setting up for a significant digital momentum driven breakout! We will see a slew of innovation and processes coming; the regulatory environment will dramatically shift to accommodating the digital economy. Consequently, not being in the game or even not being aware of the rapidly changing environment, coupled with not having a plan to thrive in the new economy; will ensure you’ll be left behind. Thereupon, use this time wisely—at a minimum, begin to prepare your kids to imagine, understand and adapt to the new world order, where both the future of education, and the future of work, will be drastically different than what it is today.

Once again history is your best guide. In the period around 1665, the time of the Great Plague of London, during that pandemic, Issac Newton had to work from home, too. History shows that he used the time wisely. Without his professors to guide him, Newton apparently thrived. Those years were later referred to as his annus mirabilis, the "years of wonders." I'm not asking anyone to do something great or similar to the theory of gravity and defining the laws of motion, but to simply take time to think! Don't get distracted by all of the noise. Instead, focus in on the overriding mega trend happening, and figure out how yourself and family can prepare your optimal existence--prosperity and happiness, in the digital age.      

Our true wealth can still be found in our health and prosperity; however, it is often a result of intelligent decision making. Remember, science and faith can coexist, and the bible does say that God helps those who help themselves first? So, keep the faith, but understand the science.

Perry C. Douglas,
Entrepreneur, Innovator & Believer in Technology as a Driver of Social Change