4 ms·

I'm very worried constantly. This is the story of the bear, where you just have to be faster than the other guy. For now. The bear is getting faster and faster

I'm very worried constantly. This is the story of the bear, where you just have to be faster than the other guy. For now. The bear is getting faster and faster and it won't be long before it eats all of us. It feels like we're at the end of history. I don't know where we go from here but what are we useful for once this thing is stuck inside a robot like what Tesla is building? What is the point of humanity? Even taking a step back, I don't know how I'm going to feed my family in ten years, because my skillset is being rapidly replaced. And to anyone mentioning UBI, I'm pretty sure they'll just let us starve first.

pixl97 3y ago
>where you just have to be faster than the other guy. For now. The bear is getting faster and faster and it won't be long before it eats all of us. Here's the thing about that. At first it's about you running faster and the bear getting the slow ones, but this is actually a very short term situation. When things start getting bad, it's not the bear you need to worry about, it's your neighbor stabbing you in the leg so you're the slow one.
mhss 3y ago
re: UBI. I don't think they'll let us starve, but that's a very low bar. If we all become fungible and invaluable they can just feed us Soylent green.
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  Who is they?
  - mhss 3y ago
    People that has enough money & wealth to employ others, control corporations who employ thousands and influence the government meaningfully (lobbying). Today, they basically control who is employed and who isn't by deciding how much to invest and in what. No, you cannot just choose to employ yourself in all circumstances. I'm all for being self-sufficient but not everyone can start a company (time and capital intensive, and very risky without a safety net).
    - pmarreck 3y ago
      If you don’t believe you can do a thing before you even try, then you’re correct, right out of the gate. (insert eyeroll emoji here) All your repeated uses of “they” points to a toxic external-locus-of-control worldview. You were always the only limit of yourself. Any other claim amounts to heretical self-dehumanization. You’re not fungible and never were, and anyone who tries to make you believe that deserves the utmost vehement pushback.
      - callwhendone 3y ago
        He's right though, there will never be as many opportunities to start companies as there will be to become a worker at a company. The window of opportunity is shrinking drastically. It doesn't matter if we're not fungible in the metaphysical sense, we are fungible when it comes to the economical value we provide to the world. This is no different than telling coal miners that are 50 years old to "learn to code". It's ridiculous and it's disingenuous.
      - kortex 3y ago
        > You’re not fungible and never were Sure as heck doesn't feel that way. And that's as a software developer with multiple college degrees and a decade of experience. The neurodivergence means I've always had to mask and be on guard and push well beyond my limits into physical/mental damage, because the fear of losing employment is ever-present. Feels pretty commoditized. > and anyone who tries to make you believe that deserves the utmost vehement pushback. The faceless corporations and their boards of investors who value "line go up" over basically every other metric of human wellbeing? Yes, they absolutely deserve pushback, but it's not easy (open source COTS guillotine plans, anyone?).
  - realce 3y ago
    Whoever owns and control the bear, are you actually confused about that or is this just baiting?
- tim333 3y ago
  I think it may go like slave owning societies of old. We'll be the masters and have the robots do stuff. Perhaps.
whatamidoingyo 3y ago
> my skillset is being rapidly replaced. Why do you have only one? Learn some trades. AI isn't going to be demolishing a bathroom and installing tile any time soon.
- callwhendone 3y ago
  I don't know what your salary is but mine isn't going to be replaced by demoing a bathroom and I have a mortgage and a standard of living I was hoping to be able to afford at least until my kids are out of the house.
  - whatamidoingyo 3y ago
    Unless you're making a ridiculous amount of money, you can definitely match a developer salary remodeling homes. So long as you're the actual business owner. This was just an example, of course.
    - ryandrake 3y ago
      But being the actual business owner is also not "demolishing a bathroom and installing tile." While AI won't be able to physically demo a bathroom, it's conceivable that it will eventually be able to run a business better than a human entrepreneur. The only jobs that seem to be safe (for the medium term) are jobs that require some physical manipulation of the world. Like, the actual, hands-on physical work that tradespeople do. Although they'll eventually fall to AI-powered robots.
tim333 3y ago
In a democracy you'll be able to vote for the lot that will have the robots serve us.
mvdtnz 3y ago
I think you need to calm down. "AI" today is just fancy predictive text and there's no evidence it will progress far beyond that.

pixl97 3y ago

>where you just have to be faster than the other guy. For now. The bear is getting faster and faster and it won't be long before it eats all of us. Here's the thing about that. At first it's about you running faster and the bear getting the slow ones, but this is actually a very short term situation. When things start getting bad, it's not the bear you need to worry about, it's your neighbor stabbing you in the leg so you're the slow one.

mhss 3y ago

re: UBI. I don't think they'll let us starve, but that's a very low bar. If we all become fungible and invaluable they can just feed us Soylent green.

whimsicalism 3y ago
Who is they?
- mhss 3y ago
  People that has enough money & wealth to employ others, control corporations who employ thousands and influence the government meaningfully (lobbying). Today, they basically control who is employed and who isn't by deciding how much to invest and in what. No, you cannot just choose to employ yourself in all circumstances. I'm all for being self-sufficient but not everyone can start a company (time and capital intensive, and very risky without a safety net).
  - pmarreck 3y ago
    If you don’t believe you can do a thing before you even try, then you’re correct, right out of the gate. (insert eyeroll emoji here) All your repeated uses of “they” points to a toxic external-locus-of-control worldview. You were always the only limit of yourself. Any other claim amounts to heretical self-dehumanization. You’re not fungible and never were, and anyone who tries to make you believe that deserves the utmost vehement pushback.
    - callwhendone 3y ago
      He's right though, there will never be as many opportunities to start companies as there will be to become a worker at a company. The window of opportunity is shrinking drastically. It doesn't matter if we're not fungible in the metaphysical sense, we are fungible when it comes to the economical value we provide to the world. This is no different than telling coal miners that are 50 years old to "learn to code". It's ridiculous and it's disingenuous.
    - kortex 3y ago
      > You’re not fungible and never were Sure as heck doesn't feel that way. And that's as a software developer with multiple college degrees and a decade of experience. The neurodivergence means I've always had to mask and be on guard and push well beyond my limits into physical/mental damage, because the fear of losing employment is ever-present. Feels pretty commoditized. > and anyone who tries to make you believe that deserves the utmost vehement pushback. The faceless corporations and their boards of investors who value "line go up" over basically every other metric of human wellbeing? Yes, they absolutely deserve pushback, but it's not easy (open source COTS guillotine plans, anyone?).
- realce 3y ago
  Whoever owns and control the bear, are you actually confused about that or is this just baiting?
tim333 3y ago
I think it may go like slave owning societies of old. We'll be the masters and have the robots do stuff. Perhaps.

whatamidoingyo 3y ago

> my skillset is being rapidly replaced. Why do you have only one? Learn some trades. AI isn't going to be demolishing a bathroom and installing tile any time soon.

callwhendone 3y ago
I don't know what your salary is but mine isn't going to be replaced by demoing a bathroom and I have a mortgage and a standard of living I was hoping to be able to afford at least until my kids are out of the house.
- whatamidoingyo 3y ago
  Unless you're making a ridiculous amount of money, you can definitely match a developer salary remodeling homes. So long as you're the actual business owner. This was just an example, of course.
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    But being the actual business owner is also not "demolishing a bathroom and installing tile." While AI won't be able to physically demo a bathroom, it's conceivable that it will eventually be able to run a business better than a human entrepreneur. The only jobs that seem to be safe (for the medium term) are jobs that require some physical manipulation of the world. Like, the actual, hands-on physical work that tradespeople do. Although they'll eventually fall to AI-powered robots.

tim333 3y ago

In a democracy you'll be able to vote for the lot that will have the robots serve us.

mvdtnz 3y ago

I think you need to calm down. "AI" today is just fancy predictive text and there's no evidence it will progress far beyond that.