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Every F500 company is Almost There on automating absolutely everything through ServiceNow and that's without AI being in the mix yet. There's always going to b

Every F500 company is Almost There on automating absolutely everything through ServiceNow and that's without AI being in the mix yet. There's always going to be a place for coders who can massage the API links between packages or run an ERP, but you don't need IT when your firm is disposable line staff, institutional knowledge lives in the codebase, and HR has mostly been replaced by Workday. UBI when?

pc86 3y ago
Serious question: Why is the answer to firms automating everything "give me money for doing nothing" and not "get a different job?" Don't get me wrong I would love shorter work weeks, fewer hours a day, etc. for the same pay. That was the promise of all this additional productivity, after all. But even that is still getting paid for work. I just can't rationalize the idea of paying an entire population for nothing.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  What other job would you recommend? It seems like the ones considered low hanging fruit for automation, the drudge-work, are actually resistant, but I don't really feel like asking people if they want fries with their burger.
  - pc86 3y ago
    Nobody at the beginning of the industrial revolution could have imagined the types of post-revolution jobs we have now. So "tell me what job to get then" is the wrong mindset.
    - hotpotamus 3y ago
      Will I need to go to college for a few years to get this theoretical new job? Will my health insurance be covered if I do? As ever, I'm glad I never wanted children because just keeping my own ass sheltered, fed, and well(ish) is hard enough.
      - pc86 3y ago
        Maybe? Probably? It sounds like your problem is less with your specific job being obsoleted (or made less lucrative to you) by AI and more with just having to work in the first place. I can't really help with that.
        hotpotamus 3y ago
        Well, I do have a crippling illness that results in some disability, so being able to work (and especially to keep my health insurance) is indeed a significant concern of mine.
  - lowbloodsugar 3y ago
    >I don't really feel like asking people if they want fries with their burger. McDonalds and others have kiosks already. One place I frequent only has touch screens for ordering.
- dayofthedaleks 3y ago
  Ever read Vonnegut's _Player Piano_? Eventually there's just no real work to be done, unless you want to invent even more bullshit jobs for the FIRE sector.
  - KptMarchewa 3y ago
    Very similar story in Zajdel's Limes Inferior
- hattmall 3y ago
  >I just can't rationalize the idea of paying an entire population for nothing. And the crazy thing is, that we actually have SO much that needs to be done. There's massive shortages of all type of roles that can be filled by pretty much anyone.
- GolfPopper 3y ago
  The US already plays a great many people for nothing. David Graber's book Bullshit Jobs goes into this in detail. When it comes to UBI, the question is, will people do nothing but sit on the couch and play videogames, or will they do something productive and beneficial to their fellow human beings, that they could not afford to do without UBI?
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > Serious question: Why is the answer to firms automating everything "give me money for doing nothing" and not "get a different job?" Because eventually, there will not be many jobs left that cannot be automated. Cleaning and some of the trades will remain as long as we get iRobot-style droids with dexterity and intelligence to match a human, as will politics and management, but everything else will get automated. The question is, will we manage to shift our society away from the millennia-old model of "one's employment defines one's worth in society" to "everyone is worth the same in society" in time, or will there be bloody fights in the transition?
  - grotted 3y ago
    People fought and died in the streets to get OT pay and 5 day workweeks in the US. The CIA has assassinated union leaders in the Global South for decades. You tell me.
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  The answer should be: "Give me money so I can do things I want to do." Most people want to feel useful and valued, so people will still volunteer and do useful work even if they don't have to do it to survive.

pc86 3y ago

Serious question: Why is the answer to firms automating everything "give me money for doing nothing" and not "get a different job?" Don't get me wrong I would love shorter work weeks, fewer hours a day, etc. for the same pay. That was the promise of all this additional productivity, after all. But even that is still getting paid for work. I just can't rationalize the idea of paying an entire population for nothing.

hotpotamus 3y ago
What other job would you recommend? It seems like the ones considered low hanging fruit for automation, the drudge-work, are actually resistant, but I don't really feel like asking people if they want fries with their burger.
- pc86 3y ago
  Nobody at the beginning of the industrial revolution could have imagined the types of post-revolution jobs we have now. So "tell me what job to get then" is the wrong mindset.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    Will I need to go to college for a few years to get this theoretical new job? Will my health insurance be covered if I do? As ever, I'm glad I never wanted children because just keeping my own ass sheltered, fed, and well(ish) is hard enough.
    - pc86 3y ago
      Maybe? Probably? It sounds like your problem is less with your specific job being obsoleted (or made less lucrative to you) by AI and more with just having to work in the first place. I can't really help with that.
      - hotpotamus 3y ago
        Well, I do have a crippling illness that results in some disability, so being able to work (and especially to keep my health insurance) is indeed a significant concern of mine.
- lowbloodsugar 3y ago
  >I don't really feel like asking people if they want fries with their burger. McDonalds and others have kiosks already. One place I frequent only has touch screens for ordering.
dayofthedaleks 3y ago
Ever read Vonnegut's _Player Piano_? Eventually there's just no real work to be done, unless you want to invent even more bullshit jobs for the FIRE sector.
- KptMarchewa 3y ago
  Very similar story in Zajdel's Limes Inferior
hattmall 3y ago
>I just can't rationalize the idea of paying an entire population for nothing. And the crazy thing is, that we actually have SO much that needs to be done. There's massive shortages of all type of roles that can be filled by pretty much anyone.
GolfPopper 3y ago
The US already plays a great many people for nothing. David Graber's book Bullshit Jobs goes into this in detail. When it comes to UBI, the question is, will people do nothing but sit on the couch and play videogames, or will they do something productive and beneficial to their fellow human beings, that they could not afford to do without UBI?
mschuster91 3y ago
> Serious question: Why is the answer to firms automating everything "give me money for doing nothing" and not "get a different job?" Because eventually, there will not be many jobs left that cannot be automated. Cleaning and some of the trades will remain as long as we get iRobot-style droids with dexterity and intelligence to match a human, as will politics and management, but everything else will get automated. The question is, will we manage to shift our society away from the millennia-old model of "one's employment defines one's worth in society" to "everyone is worth the same in society" in time, or will there be bloody fights in the transition?
- grotted 3y ago
  People fought and died in the streets to get OT pay and 5 day workweeks in the US. The CIA has assassinated union leaders in the Global South for decades. You tell me.
datadrivenangel 3y ago
The answer should be: "Give me money so I can do things I want to do." Most people want to feel useful and valued, so people will still volunteer and do useful work even if they don't have to do it to survive.