4 ms·
> Perhaps if you spend most of your time trying to produce slides, designs, etc., freeing up some of that time for more high value activities is not such a bad
by thunky 4y ago
> Perhaps if you spend most of your time trying to produce slides, designs, etc., freeing up some of that time for more high value activities is not such a bad thing
Maybe, but if doing that was my full time job then I would instantly feel less valuable and less secure.
I just don't buy the argument that AI/automation frees up time to do more valuable work at the individual level. Sure it's great for the organization. But if your job became obsolete tonight, simultaneously with thousands of other people, what "high value activities" would you do to earn money? I'm not saying that has happened but the day may be coming for us "knowledge workers".
The trend here is that knowledge work is becoming less valuable. Not everyone will be able to rise above the machines in this category.
Luckily we can probably still clean houses for a living, since it appears that robots will be able to write good code before they can wash dishes or make a bed.
- JellyBeanThief 4y agoIt still astonishes me how much this mindset of "everyone needs to work as much as humanly possible regardless of how much stuff actually needs to be done" is baked into our brains. Maybe the thing start doing when new technologies come along is ask "how can we rearrange ourselves so that now everyone works less time than they did before?"
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- MichaelZuo 4y agoMany desired goods are scarce, people will compete for scarce goods. There is a market clearing price. To some the price is acceptable, to others the price seems like it forces them 'to work as much as humanly possible regardless of how much stuff actually needs to be done'. People can have different desires. Nothing confusing in there.
- steve1977 4y ago> Many desired goods are scarce Maybe because they are produced by inefficient humans?
- ben_w 4y agoNot meaningfully, from both directions at the same time. Most of the of goods we consume are produced with large quantities of mechanical labour and have been since the Industrial Revolution got going; conversely, one of the biggest costs we face in the G7 is the land, and the land is mainly expensive because of the other people all bidding against each other to be in good locations. Visited Nairobi a few years back, and one of my partner’s local friends was complaining about the rent (one year for her in Nairobi was less than one month for me in Cambridge, because it was locals bidding against other locals for rent in both cases), but that friend was still able to get a smart phone (albeit a cheaper model than most people here would be OK with).
- melagonster 4y agoI guess this is because we know it in depth of brain, if we lose jobs society just will let everyone starve and die.