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Distrust? Sort of. People like to whine about Facebook, but they are still using it, or they migrate from Facebook to Instagram. Amazon is still growing. The ne
by tachyonbeam 7y ago
Distrust? Sort of. People like to whine about Facebook, but they are still using it, or they migrate from Facebook to Instagram. Amazon is still growing. The news that the US government was spying on everyone came out years ago, and nobody did anything about it.
The current story is that automation will make all the dull jobs go away, and we're going to get Universal Basic Income. That's the mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future, alive and well.
I work in AI, and nobody is stopping to ask the question: how happy are people going to be in a future without a practical sense of purpose, where a machine can do anything you could do better than you? Yes, I know, if you're a well-adapted individual, you should be able to derive your sense of purpose somewhere else besides work... Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about.
- codesushi42 7y ago>Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about. That didn't work out for Hitler.
- tachyonbeam 7y agoUBI utopia: everyone is free to live life to the fullest, pursue their creative passion and have fulfilling friendships in a stress-free environment. UBI dystopia: everyone is crammed in a tiny standardized living unit, barely long enough to lie down in, the cities are all slums. Everyone feels useless and disconnected. People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs.
- codesushi42 7y ago>People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs. This is a more likely outcome, since it is already the trend.
- gumby 7y agoBecause that's the current social matrix in some societies but it need not be.
- dang 7y agoCan you please not Hitler up the threads here? That never swerves anywhere good. Edit: while I have you, please don't post personal attacks like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20539497 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20539497. We've had to ask you this before, and I don't want to ban you.
- gumby 7y agoWhy can’t the machines give us pretend jobs to make us happy? I ask this question genuinely not in jest. And only slightly in jest: I think the majority of today’s jobs are bullshit jobs and they aren’t fooling anyone.