Throughout history, technological advancements have revolved around solving two major issues: communication cost and labor cost.
(1) Communication Cost
In simple terms, communication cost refers to the effort needed to shorten distances. Since geographical distance is a natural physical limitation that cannot be reduced, the only way to improve communication is by minimizing the time required for transmission and reducing its cost as much as possible.
In ancient times, communication costs were so high that they could cost an entire city its survival. If scouts failed to deliver early warnings about an approaching enemy, a city could be easily overrun. During thousands of years of agricultural society, animals played a key role in communication and transportation. Carrier pigeons, horses, oxen, and camels were essential tools in reducing the challenges of long distances. In times of war, a family letter was considered as valuable as gold, illustrating the high cost of communication. Apart from delivering messages, animals were also used to transport crops and goods. Because of these communication difficulties, history has left behind numerous literary masterpieces, touching poetry, and heart-wrenching love stories inspired by longing across distances.
The Industrial Age brought explosive breakthroughs in communication. Airplanes, ships, and automobiles drastically reduced travel time. Postal services, telegraphs, and telephones broke geographical barriers, eventually achieving real-time (instant) communication. The poetic vision of “as if neighbors despite being miles apart” became a reality. The time required to receive goods, read letters, and hear voices was reduced from years to months, from days to hours, and ultimately to minutes and seconds. This elimination of long waiting times improved logistics efficiency and accelerated human life rhythms. Previously, a letter took two weeks to arrive, then another two weeks for a response, creating delays in actions. In contrast, interactive discussions today yield immediate results.
The Information Age took communication cost reduction further by digitizing text, audio, images, and animation into binary code (0s and 1s). This significantly lowered costs and allowed people to see and interact with each other from thousands of miles away. Communication evolved from a two-way exchange to a multi-directional collaboration, enabling remote teamwork. More importantly, the digitization of information paved the way for the Internet and virtual spaces, eliminating physical limitations. This led to the emergence of digital worlds where people could live and work without being physically present. The Metaverse is a possible culmination of this evolution, allowing individuals to project themselves into a virtual world, conducting daily activities and business tasks without leaving home.
The development of communication solutions has followed a clear trajectory: from shortening distances and reducing costs to achieving task completion without any distance barriers. While physical objects cannot yet be digitized and reassembled like data, logistics technology continues to advance in minimizing volume and weight, improving materials, enhancing dismantling and assembly processes, and increasing transportation speed for cost-effective and rapid deliveries.
(2) Labor Cost
Another crucial challenge that human technology aims to solve is labor cost, which can be divided into physical labor cost and intellectual labor cost.
During the Agricultural Age, the focus was on reducing physical labor costs. Early societies relied on manual labor, but gradually invented tools and domesticated animals like oxen, horses, and donkeys to assist with work. However, progress in reducing labor costs was slow, and fixed costs remained constant for long periods. The arrival of the Industrial Age transformed labor by replacing manual work with machines, propelled by advancements in steam and electricity. This shift led to industrial processes based on division of labor, supply chain systems, and managerial oversight, driving the rapid development of industrial civilization. This era saw a massive decline in human physical labor costs, with countless inventions and production techniques emerging within just 250 years. Animals were almost entirely phased out of the labor market, and sweat-inducing manual labor became less common. As a result, tasks that required minimal physical effort became accessible to women, such as factory work. The increasing complexity of supply chains, logistics, and production processes made management more important, creating numerous white-collar job opportunities.
In the post-industrial era of the 20th century, automation further reduced reliance on human labor. Large factories no longer required a massive workforce, as automation efficiency became the key factor.
In the early Information Age, the focus was on helping humans handle more complex management and production processes. Computers enhanced the efficiency of white-collar jobs across various industries, especially in the booming service sector. As computers integrated with industrial automation, factories aimed to reduce blue-collar jobs and compensate for the rising costs of white-collar workers.
The Information Age saw a major turning point in the 1980s with the explosion of personal computing, followed by the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) 50 years later. Although AI is technically a branch of the Information Age, its transformative impact makes it more fitting as a new era—the Age of Intelligence. This era is poised to replace white-collar jobs, and in the next phase, eliminate many blue-collar jobs as well.
Currently, AI development is progressing from chatbots to AI agents capable of executing human-assigned tasks, such as stock trading. The first wave of job displacement is already affecting basic white-collar roles like customer service and content creation. The next wave will impact professionals such as lawyers, teachers, and doctors. The final phase will involve intelligent humanoid robots that surpass human cognitive and physical abilities. These robots will not only possess superhuman intelligence but also master human-like movements, performing tasks more efficiently than people. At this stage, humanoid robots will integrate both blue- and white-collar skills, replacing most human jobs and minimizing labor costs.
For example, a surgeon is a profession that requires both intellectual and physical expertise. An AI-powered robotic surgeon could possess a vast repository of medical knowledge while performing surgeries with precision beyond any human doctor ability.
The AI Age marks an era where even creativity can be delegated to machines. What remains for humans is an emotional core—an ability to feel and assign tasks to AI based on those emotions and intuitions. How will humanity navigate this transition? This question will be central to discussions among sociologists, economists, and policymakers as we move forward into an AI-driven world.
This blog post was contributed by Mr. Teh Hon Seng, CEO of TimeTec Group.
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