3 ms·

I see no difference between this and any other game changer such as steam or electricity. I'll grant that the pace of innovation in ai is a singular phenomenon

I see no difference between this and any other game changer such as steam or electricity. I'll grant that the pace of innovation in ai is a singular phenomenon but labor saving in and of itself should not be a cause of fear

bjacobt 3y ago
What I’m wondering is, what happened to those people whose work were replaced by steam or electricity - Were they able to quickly up-skill? With AI it maybe good in macro terms but what about the folks impacted by it? Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education?
- Pet_Ant 3y ago
  > Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education? This to me is the core problem. We give people in their lives really one chance to skill up. Basic skills through secondary education and then a period afterwards when you have no social responsibilities to go to college. If you need to retrain 15 years down the road, there is no support for supporting your family for you. If you try to pad your costs to sandbag for the eventuality of having to leave your industry for a couple of years to upskill, then some will take that as your margin and undercut you.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education? Or at all. If a large percentage of jobs go away, there's a very real chance that there won't be enough new jobs at any training/education level to make up for it.
JohnFen 3y ago
> labor saving in and of itself should not be a cause of fear True, but the prospect of widespread loss of the ability of people to earn a living absolutely should be -- even if you're not one who will lose that ability. The problem isn't labor savings as such, it's the speed of the change. Losing too many jobs too quickly is a recipe for disaster.
adamredwoods 3y ago
AI used to replicate and replace specific worker tasks is much different than steam or electricity. A better comparison is the telephone switch operator industry, whose jobs (peak in 1950) were replaced directly by technology. It is allowed to feel fear about losing a job-- there is no safety net, and rebounding is difficult.

bjacobt 3y ago

What I’m wondering is, what happened to those people whose work were replaced by steam or electricity - Were they able to quickly up-skill? With AI it maybe good in macro terms but what about the folks impacted by it? Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education?

Pet_Ant 3y ago
> Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education? This to me is the core problem. We give people in their lives really one chance to skill up. Basic skills through secondary education and then a period afterwards when you have no social responsibilities to go to college. If you need to retrain 15 years down the road, there is no support for supporting your family for you. If you try to pad your costs to sandbag for the eventuality of having to leave your industry for a couple of years to upskill, then some will take that as your margin and undercut you.
JohnFen 3y ago
> Will it be possible from them to find another job without significant training/education? Or at all. If a large percentage of jobs go away, there's a very real chance that there won't be enough new jobs at any training/education level to make up for it.

JohnFen 3y ago

> labor saving in and of itself should not be a cause of fear True, but the prospect of widespread loss of the ability of people to earn a living absolutely should be -- even if you're not one who will lose that ability. The problem isn't labor savings as such, it's the speed of the change. Losing too many jobs too quickly is a recipe for disaster.

adamredwoods 3y ago

AI used to replicate and replace specific worker tasks is much different than steam or electricity. A better comparison is the telephone switch operator industry, whose jobs (peak in 1950) were replaced directly by technology. It is allowed to feel fear about losing a job-- there is no safety net, and rebounding is difficult.