Yuval Noah Harari
Professor Department Of History
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
TED TALK Intervier: Yuval, you have a new book out. After Sapiens, you wrote another one, and it’s out in Hebrew, but not yet translated into English.
World Economic Forum Yuval Noah Harari: I’m working on the translation.
Yuval Noah Harari Book – Industrial Revolution Class Struggles
TED TALK Intervier: Okay, in the book, if I understand it correctly, you argue that actually the amazing breakthrough that we are experiencing right now not only will potentially make our life better, but they will create, and I quote you, new classes and new class struggles, just as the Industrial Revolution did. Can you elaborate for us?
World Economic Forum Yuval Noah Harari: Yes, in the Industrial Revolution, we saw the creation of a new class of the urban proletariat, and much of the political and social history of the last 200 years involved what to do with this class and the new problems and opportunities.
As Computers Become Better We Will Have a NEW Massive Class of Useless People.
World Economic Forum Yuval Noah Harari: Now we see the creation of a new massive class of useless people. As computers become better and better in more and more fields, there is a distinct possibility that computers will outperform us in most tasks and will make humans redundant. Then the big political and economic question of the 21st century will be what do we need humans for? Or at least what do we need so many humans for?
TED TALK Intervier: Do you have an answer in the book?
World Economic Forum Yuval Noah Harari: At present the best guess we have is keep them happy with drugs and computer games.
