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> The entire job is almost entirely human to human tasks: sales, networking, leading, etc. So, writing emails? "Hey, ChatGPT. Write a business strategy for ou
by hackyhacky 9mo ago
> The entire job is almost entirely human to human tasks: sales, networking, leading, etc.
So, writing emails?
"Hey, ChatGPT. Write a business strategy for our widget company. Then, draft emails to each department with instructions for implementing that strategy."
There, I just saved you $20 million.
- collingreen 9mo agoI get your point but if you think that list of critical functions (or the unlisted "good ol boys" style tasks) boils down to some emails then I think you don't have an appreciation for the work or finesse or charisma required.
- hackyhacky 9mo ago> I think you don't have an appreciation for the work or finesse or charisma required. I think that you don't appreciate that charismatic emails are one of the few things that modern AI can do better than humans. I wouldn't trust ChatGPT to do my math homework, but I would trust it to write a great op-ed piece.
- s1artibartfast 9mo agoFor some reason the AI prompt "make me 20 million" hasn't been working for me. What am I doing wrong?
- text0404 9mo agoWhy are there "good ol boys" tasks in the first place? Instead, automate the C-suite with AI, get rid of these backroom dealings and exclusive private networks, and participate in a purer free market based on data. Isn't this what all the tech libertarians who are pushing AI are aiming for anyways? Complete automation of their workforces, free markets, etc etc? Makes more sense to cut the fat from the top first, as it's orders of magnitude larger than the fat on the bottom.
- collingreen 9mo agoA more fair, less corrupt system/market sounds great! I also think once we solve that tiny problem that the "should ai do ceo jobs" problem is way easier! What should we do while we wait for the good ol boys networks to dismantle themselves? On a more serious note, the meritocracy, freedom, data, etc that big tech libertarians talk about seems to mostly be marketing. When we look at actions instead it's just more bog standard price fixing, insider deals, regulatory capture, bribes and other corruption with a little "create a fake government agency and gut the agencies investigating my companies" thrown in to keep things exciting.
- viraptor 9mo agoWe could solve that by replacing all CEOs to remove the issue of finesse and charisma. LLMs can then discuss the actual proposals. (not entirely kidding) It would be actually nicely self reinforcing and resisting a change back, because now it's in board's interest to use an LLM which cannot be smoothtalked into bad deals. Charisma becomes the negative signal and excludes more and more people.
- s1artibartfast 9mo agoPeople seem to have a poor model of what management and many knowledge workers. Much of it isn't completing tasks, but identifying and creating them.
- hackyhacky 9mo ago"ChatGPT, please identify the tasks that a CEO of this company must do."
- hulitu 9mo ago> Much of it isn't completing tasks, but identifying and creating them. They failed miserably in the Automotive industry in Europe. The only thing that they identified was: "Shit, the profits are falling, do something"
- lurk2 9mo ago> There, I just saved you $20 million. If it were this easy, you could have done it by now. Have you?
- hackyhacky 9mo ago> If it were this easy, you could have done it by now. Have you? In order to save $20 million dollars with this technique, the first step is to hire a CEO who gets paid $20 million dollars. The second step is to replace the CEO with a bot. I confess that I have not yet completed the first step.
- lurk2 9mo agoHave you replaced the executive function in any one of your enterprises with ChatGPT?
- hackyhacky 9mo agoI have completely replaced management of every company that I own with ChatGPT.
- idiotsecant 9mo agoI am sympathetic to your point, but reducing a complex social exchange like that down to 'writing emails' is wildly underestimating the problem. In any negotiation, it's essential to have an internal model of the other party. If you can't predict reactions you don't know which actions to take. I am not at all convinced any modern AI would be up to that task. Once one exists that is I think we stop being in charge of our little corner of the galaxy.
- krapp 9mo agoArtists, musicians, scientists, lawyers and programmers have all argued that the irreducible complexity of their jobs makes automation by AI impossible and all have been proven wrong to some degree. I see no reason why CEOs should be the exception. Although I think it's more likely that we're going to enter an era of fully autonomous corporations, and the position of "CEO" will simply no longer exist except as a machine-to-machine protocol.
- unethical_ban 9mo agoI feel like the people who can't comprehend the difficulties of an AI CEO are people who have never been in business sales or high level strategy and negotiating. You can't think of a single difference in the nature of the job of artist/musician vs. lawyer vs. business executive?
- hackyhacky 9mo agoYou sound like a CEO desperately trying not to get fired. Everyone is indispensable until they aren't.
- habinero 9mo agoThis whole thread is delightful. Well done.
- unethical_ban 9mo agoAlas, this doesn't answer the question I posed. CEOs are a different class of worker, with a different set of customers, a smaller pool of workers. They operate with a different set of rules than music creation or coding, and they sit at the top of the economy. They will use AI as a tool. Someone will sit at the top of a company. What would you call them?
- satvikpendem 9mo agoThis is literally a caricature of what the average HN engineer thinks a businessperson or CEO does all day, like you can't make satire like this up better if you tried.
- hackyhacky 9mo agoDo you think CEOs have an accurate idea of what engineers do?
- satvikpendem 9mo agoNeither side can truly know, that is the nature of a diffuse organization.
- hackyhacky 9mo agoThat won't stop them from replacing us.
- satvikpendem 9mo agoEven if the AI gets infinitely good, the task of guiding it to create software for the use of other humans is called...software engineering. Therefore, SWEs will never go away, because humans do not know what they want, and they never will until they do.
- unethical_ban 9mo agoIt's mind-boggling. I get riffing on the hyped superiority of CEOs. I've heard inane things said by them. But, being a human being with some experience observing other humans and power structures, I can assuredly say that the tight-knit group of wealthy power-brokers who operate on gut and bullshitting each other (and everyone) will not cede their power to AI, but use it as a tool. Or maybe the person you're describing is right, and CEOs are just like a psy-rock band with a Macbook trying out some tunes hoping they make it big on Spotify.