With the rapid advancement of technology in the past few decades, more specifically the advancements made in AI machine learning, a fear has crept into people’s minds. Will AI one day replace us? Will the jobs of humans be in peril due to competition from robots we built ourselves?
To that I say, yes, there is a job which is in peril, one which has been on the decline since the increase in technological advancements.
However, it might not be the job you are expecting, and not really a “job” at all.
To find out what this is we must first dive into a day in the life of someone living in China, and specifically Nanjing. And have a look at how that compares to the USA. For myself right now, that means New York City.
Waking up in the morning in Nanjing, the first thing you do is sleepily feel around for the phone you’ve placed by you bedside table. You swear that you’re just “checking the time in the morning”, as you mindlessly scroll down TikTok and WeChat moments for 2 hours.
But hey, in your defence, it’s not like there’s anything for you do anyways.
Vroom… goes your robot vacuum cleaner dashing around the house. Your breakfast is on the way in the back of a motorcycle, the package you ordered yesterday is due to arrive in 2 hours. The blinds still aren’t open yet? Just give a simple command to the smart-house assistant to open them.
Going outside, you decide why take your own car given the parking prices they’re charging these days, assuming you can find a parking spot in the first place. Taking a Didi ride is much more cost efficient; its faster, and if you choose to car pool with someone else, you’re cutting down your carbon foot print.
Checking out at the grocery store, you are presented with the option to scan a QR code to pay for your items, whilst a credit card scanner sits lonely in the corner collecting dust.
At the bubble tea shop, instead of lining up, you find a seat first, scan the QR code which is stuck onto every table and order through there.
A couple of hours later, you realise your phone is running out of battery. No worries; just scan another QR code to borrow one of the many power banks available in almost every shop you walk into. Tired of taking a car everywhere and want to exercise? Borrow a public bike scattered all around the city with, you guessed it, a QR code.
This is the convenience of finance in China.
All payment can be done through WeChat pay or AliPay, all errands can be done through a phone and there is almost no place you can’t get to in the city, or in the country, with the vast and intricate metro and high-speed rail lines.
Even when you run out of money in your WeChat/AliPay, don’t bother going to the ATM; just connect your digital wallet to your bank account, or do some online banking through the official app of your bank to transfer yourself more money.
However, convenience is a different story in the west.
Sure you’ve got car sharing apps such as UBER and LYFT; and as long as they don’t break down in the middle of the ride, the metro can get you to many places in New York City.
But the primary method of travel is still by your own car and on the road. In China, when the police ask you for identification you give them your social ID card; in the USA, you give them your driver’s licence.
The convenience of finance also looks very different to that of China. Here in the USA, you’ll find ATM machines with queues of people waiting, and without a working credit card, good luck paying for anything online. PayPal is big, but nothing like WeChat or AliPay is in China. In fact, you can’t even use PayPal on Amazon, the most visited e-commerce site in the world, due to the nature of the two sites being competitors.
Back in Nanjing, the use of cash has been completely eliminated. Having lived in the City for many years, I went many months on end without seeing any cash in person, and I cannot recall the last time I paid for something in physical bills.
This is why a saying has emerged in the last few years; the “job” of a thief has completely gone out of business, as there’s just no cash around for them to steal. Pick pocketing a wallet gives you nothing but the baby picture of the owner, a credit card that expired 5 years ago and up to 4 years in jail.
