What the "robots are taking jobs" debate ignores

Everything I have read so far about in the robots are taking jobs debate - some suggesting it is really serious and other suggesting it will be alright are both forgetting one thing.

Society hangs together on the pillars of trust and the power of the state to use force. If people start to BELIEVE their futures are in danger then watch out.

It is not just about what is a rational expectation of the future but the emotional understanding of body mind and soul as well that is important in this situation. Governments need to rapidly get their heads around this SINGLE fact about the digital future. Determining whether new technologies will create jobs is almost impossible for a government to analyse and foretell - it is an act of hope or faith.

But, governments can begin to develop policies that engage society in building trust that they will help navigate their economies through what changes occur. This is big picture but it is the work of innovation policy.

Facebook a digital landlord

The BBC reports that Facebook has been described by a court as a digital landlord.

Facebook is fighting a US court order in which it was forced to hand over data belonging to almost 400 people involved in a benefit fraud trial. The social media site said the request was "by far the largest" it had ever received from a government body. Photographs, private messages and other information were supplied to a New York court last year, but the process was only made public by a judge this week. The ruling defined Facebook as a "digital landlord". A judge said this definition meant the company must comply with search warrants. The original case investigated fraudulent claimants of US federal disability benefits, whose Facebook accounts apparently showed that they were in fact healthy. The web giant was ordered to hand over information from the 381 accounts, which the court said contained "evidence of criminality".

The courts continue to define the digital policy in the absence of legislation. The web of court orders relating to data companies such as google and facebook continues to evolve fast.