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How I read all headlines like this now: "Shopify just opened themselves up to be less dominate (or non-existent) in the market." The destruction of brands on t

• kromem 3y ago
  Yep. It isn't going to be in the next 12 or maybe even 24 months, but in the not too distant future any company that made significant downsizing in the early days of AI is going to find out the hard way that they effectively threw away a lot of their lead against competition. The smart companies right now would be keeping headcount the same, provide their employees with access to AI and training on how to use it effectively to reduce their workload, and then set them towards further specialization with the new freed up workload. The cost for the productivity that 100 human employees can bring is much harder for a new competitor to match than the cost of 100 AI employees. So if cash flow supports keeping 100 humans on staff, and instead you switch over to AI to try and impress shareholders in the short term, rather than finding ways to maximize the output of the 100 humans for long term growth, you're going to wake up closer to being unseated by companies with less technical and bureaucratic debt (and probably often with some of those same ex employees on staff).
  • 23B1 3y ago
    > then set them towards further specialization with the new freed up workload Or innovation. Imagine not hiring McKinsey or IDEO to 'innovent' new market opportunities but instead, y'know, listening to your frontline about what they think customers might want...