3 ms·
To me there is a single defining difference between this and every prior revolution: in the past it was the poor people whose jobs disappeared. Now it's the mid
by causality0 4y ago
To me there is a single defining difference between this and every prior revolution: in the past it was the poor people whose jobs disappeared. Now it's the middle class and potentially upper middle class. I anticipate it not actually affecting all that many more people than prior revolutions, but expect it to be far noisier since the people whose skills are becoming irrelevant have much more power and influence than in the past.
- wmeredith 4y ago> in the past it was the poor people whose jobs disappeared I'm not sure that's true. When the industrial revolution displaced factory workers making stuff by hand, they were a new middle class that had moved off subsistence farms to work in the city.
- JohnFen 4y ago> in the past it was the poor people whose jobs disappeared. Now it's the middle class and potentially upper middle class. This is not true in the US. In the past, it was lower and middle class jobs that disappeared. Now the threat is to lower, middle, and upper-class jobs.
- mywittyname 4y agoThe upper class people will profit from the lost jobs. Just like they've always grabbed the lion's share of productivity improvements. The VP of Widgets is going to push an AI Initiative that will save money and increase revenue for the company, and as a result, they will get a nice bonus and a promotion of the Chief Widget Officer. Then maybe segue that into a "consultancy" where they overcharge other companies to advise them to do the same.
- PeterisP 4y agoThere's really no such thing as upper-class jobs; upper class is pretty much defined by not needing a job - the capitalists, landlords, CEO, investors and "heirs"; unlike the upper end of middle class which consists of professionals like lawyers, doctors and (recently) software developers which may have high incomes but aren't upper class because they do need to continuously work for that.
- dragonwriter 4y agoThere are jobs that are predominatly held by people in the upper class, but being in the upper class (haut bourgeoisie) means that those jobs are not the significant way they engage with the economy.
- PeterisP 4y agoOkay, things like 'museum curator' or 'charity foundation board member' come to mind, all kinds of positions that are high status but often don't even involve any serious pay and thus are generally taken by independently wealthy. Those jobs won't be automated even if they can be automated, these people will ensure that they stay the way they are.
- JohnFen 4y agoBy "upper class", I mean "upper income levels". I think that the majority of the people on HN are in the "upper class".