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"I genuinely don't understand why people who have to work for their living are amazed at this." Also said after seeing the printing press, automobile, calculato

"I genuinely don't understand why people who have to work for their living are amazed at this." Also said after seeing the printing press, automobile, calculator, etc for the first time

deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
zarzavat 2mo ago
It's true, even if you lose your job as a programmer you can still get a job as a barista.
- rootlocus 2mo ago
  Except where will be the programmers paying for overpriced coffee?
- ulfw 2mo ago
  Silly thought. No one has money for overpriced coffee if well paid jobs are gone
- tarpitt 2mo ago
  Can't wait for the barista and wicker basket based economy. Although personally I just make coffee at home, so I have no need for a barista with a PhD in neurosurgery to make it for me. Plus it just takes too much time to go to starbucks, especially with all the starbucks job applications I will need to fill out if I want a chance of getting a job.
muldvarp 2mo ago
The printing press, automobile and calculator didn't threaten the employability of a large part of the population, so no, that sentence was probably not uttered by anyone at that time. The problem with AI isn't that it's threating software development. It's that it's _also_ threating pretty much any other job that I could reasonably be retrained for. Also, I'm pretty conflicted about the overall impact of automobiles.
andy_ppp 2mo ago
My god, the printing press was invented in 1440 when most people were living in abject poverty - it took until after WW2 for humans to demand a more shared amount of money between rich and poor. If you think technology delivers improvements in living standards rather than all working people demanding better conditions you’re living in an absolute fantasy and do not understand history at all. I honestly can’t believe you think this.
- d4v3 2mo ago
  > If you think technology delivers improvements in living standards rather than all working people demanding better conditions you’re living in an absolute fantasy Demanding better conditions does not just manufacture the technology, infrastructure, and productivity needed to provide the improvement in the standard of living. I think you're in the fantasy realm, my friend.
  - andy_ppp 2mo ago
    Which period of the last 2000 years was good for the vast majority rather than the ultra wealthy? And are these periods aligned with technology progress?
    - jdietrich 2mo ago
      Living standards for ordinary people only started to improve in any meaningful way after the industrial revolution, a fact which is immediately obvious if you compare across generations. Technological progress gave us all of the things that distinguish the lives of 21st century Americans from the lives of medieval peasants. Central heating, indoor plumbing, electric lighting, general anaesthesia, antibiotics, automobiles, aircraft, limitless entertainment, food so abundant that poor people are obese. If you think that technological progress is intrinsically bad because it hasn't brought about a utopia of perfect equality, then I really don't know what to say to you.
      - andy_ppp 2mo ago
ethbr1 2mo ago
> Also said after seeing the printing press, automobile, calculator, etc for the first time Because society has found such sustainable solutions to capital wealth concentration in the intervening years.

"I genuinely don't understand why people who have to work for their living are amazed at this." Also said after seeing the printing press, automobile, calculator, etc for the first time

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

zarzavat 2mo ago

It's true, even if you lose your job as a programmer you can still get a job as a barista.

rootlocus 2mo ago
Except where will be the programmers paying for overpriced coffee?
ulfw 2mo ago
Silly thought. No one has money for overpriced coffee if well paid jobs are gone
tarpitt 2mo ago
Can't wait for the barista and wicker basket based economy. Although personally I just make coffee at home, so I have no need for a barista with a PhD in neurosurgery to make it for me. Plus it just takes too much time to go to starbucks, especially with all the starbucks job applications I will need to fill out if I want a chance of getting a job.

muldvarp 2mo ago

The printing press, automobile and calculator didn't threaten the employability of a large part of the population, so no, that sentence was probably not uttered by anyone at that time. The problem with AI isn't that it's threating software development. It's that it's _also_ threating pretty much any other job that I could reasonably be retrained for. Also, I'm pretty conflicted about the overall impact of automobiles.

andy_ppp 2mo ago

My god, the printing press was invented in 1440 when most people were living in abject poverty - it took until after WW2 for humans to demand a more shared amount of money between rich and poor. If you think technology delivers improvements in living standards rather than all working people demanding better conditions you’re living in an absolute fantasy and do not understand history at all. I honestly can’t believe you think this.

d4v3 2mo ago
> If you think technology delivers improvements in living standards rather than all working people demanding better conditions you’re living in an absolute fantasy Demanding better conditions does not just manufacture the technology, infrastructure, and productivity needed to provide the improvement in the standard of living. I think you're in the fantasy realm, my friend.
- andy_ppp 2mo ago
  Which period of the last 2000 years was good for the vast majority rather than the ultra wealthy? And are these periods aligned with technology progress?
  - jdietrich 2mo ago
    Living standards for ordinary people only started to improve in any meaningful way after the industrial revolution, a fact which is immediately obvious if you compare across generations. Technological progress gave us all of the things that distinguish the lives of 21st century Americans from the lives of medieval peasants. Central heating, indoor plumbing, electric lighting, general anaesthesia, antibiotics, automobiles, aircraft, limitless entertainment, food so abundant that poor people are obese. If you think that technological progress is intrinsically bad because it hasn't brought about a utopia of perfect equality, then I really don't know what to say to you.
    - andy_ppp 2mo ago

ethbr1 2mo ago

> Also said after seeing the printing press, automobile, calculator, etc for the first time Because society has found such sustainable solutions to capital wealth concentration in the intervening years.