Yesterday our new internet provider finished the installation. The two men travelled seven hours and were planning on installing five systems in three towns spread out over hundreds of miles. But the men’s labor did not include much that was manual. Instead, they used a  Vibratory Plow.

The digging equipment looks traditional in appearance. However, it is much smaller than the trencher forerunners. Furthermore, the equipment is “driven” by tablet. A human is still needed to operate the tablet, but an individual no longer sits upon the unit operating manual gears and steering wheels.

Of course, the original machines were men with picks and axes.

And even though the physical aspect is reduced, the customer service remained and was outstanding.

A Vemeer SPX 25 was the unit involved in trenching my yard. Its technology went a step beyond just plowing through my topsoil. This machine pulled a cable casing underneath the ground while operating. So, the machine further reduced the effort needed to successfully install the cable line needed for Internet service.

However, the actual line then needed the two men to thread the line through the orange plastic casing. Human labor is still a small part of the process. But with the ever-increasing development of technology, it may not be long before only one individual is needed. Or perhaps none.

I am currently reading Could Should Might Don’t: How We Think About The Future by Nick Foster. The first few chapters offer a history of technological progress since the last Ice Age. The premise of the opening pages is that for much of history gains in productivity were slow and could be represented by a mostly flat horizontal line.

Now technological growth is accelerating exponentially. Thus the curve needs an almost vertical line. This raises many questions about growth and what kind of roles humans will play. Or will AI take over?

The biggest surprise from the use of the Vibratory Plow was the speed. The two-man crew was here less than an hour. The distance trenched was nearly 75 feet. Technology was a huge time saver. But there are other impacts on the labor market. Ditch diggers of old did not necessary need any skills other than the physical ability to wield a shovel. Yet, the Vemeer SPX 25 needed someone with the skills to operate the remote control. Perhaps this a skill easily learned, but it is still more than manual labor.

As technology moves forward, how much will a kindergartener need to know? And each grade above that? Will everyone be able to code software before graduating from high school? And what if one can’t? And an old question I used to ask my students, ten years from now what jobs will be obsolete and what unheard of positions will develop.

These are truly interesting times we live in.