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The AI researchers I know often say they expect the AI to replace their own jobs.

glimshe 2mo ago
I've seen people saying that with other technologies. Years later, they are still in the same job but a lot richer.
palmotea 2mo ago
> The AI researchers I know often say they expect the AI to replace their own jobs. Are they expecting the equity they get in some AI company will save them personally from economic ruin, so they're fine with that outcome for everyone else? Or are they expecting AI technology will magically make our society communist?
- oaweoifjwpo 2mo ago
  > Are they expecting the equity they get in some AI company will save them personally from economic ruin, so they're fine with that outcome? Yes. Basically based on my conversations with coworkers who went to these frontier AI labs: this is happening anyway, so they may as well make the money while they still can.
  - palmotea 2mo ago
    > this is happening anyway, so they may as well make the money while they still can. There's got to be a special name for that kind of treachery. I suppose "collaboration," but that doesn't have a nasty enough ring to it. Like a fascist occupation, that dystopia isn't "happening anyway" without collaborators.
    - redsocksfan45 2mo ago
      [dead]
    - Laurel1234 2mo ago
      Traitors to humanity
    - mrhottakes 2mo ago
      "Somebody might do <bad thing> and get rich, might as well be me." I just call these people "cowards"
    - GolfPopper 2mo ago
      'Judas goat' perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat
    - rightbyte 2mo ago
      I think the established word is "class traitors".
  - sigbottle 2mo ago
    But making money isn't enough, though? If you think about it from this perspective, what matters far more is connections with the wealthy, or enough power to defend yourself. Which is different from just being rich and chilling. Rich and chilling implies a stable society. But life isn't a video game where you hit some Absolute Level 99 and are impervious to everything. There's no outside justificatior for you - only you are. In this hypothetical society, when GrokBots rule the world, you think they'll care that you're a millionaire? You need to get into the inner circle. I see some really smart professors/PhDs even, going to SV, starting startups, networking, etc. That is consistent with the worldview. But someone who says that AI can replace them but just works at a lab, at least has the belief that they will be automated last. Maybe they believe they can become friends with the AI, I don't know. But let's stop and analyze the situation with a bit more nuance, for more than like, 5 seconds.
- tokioyoyo 2mo ago
  The former.
- jonas21 2mo ago
  I know people who believe the end state is a Star Trek-style post-scarcity world. This is not the same thing as communism. You can still have private ownership, differing levels of wealth, entrepreneurship, and competition. It's just that having money is not necessary for survival or to lead a reasonably comfortable life. And they don't believe it will magically happen -- it will take intentional action by governments to get there. This is, perhaps, the reason the AI labs are talking so much about AI replacing people's jobs. It's not arrogance, it's to make sure our leaders are thinking about this now instead of when it's too late to guide the outcome.
  - palmotea 2mo ago
    > This is, perhaps, the reason the AI labs are talking so much about AI replacing people's jobs. It's not arrogance, it's to make sure our leaders are thinking about this now instead of when it's too late to guide the outcome. I thought they were talking about AI replacing people's jobs, because that's music to investors' ears. Think about how much wealth concentration would happen if they could hit their goals eat that much of the economy. IIRC, Elon Musk has literally compared the effect of AI on people to the effect of highway construction on an anthill (that's in the way), and kinda shrugged his shoulders.
HarHarVeryFunny 2mo ago
If Karpathy's "auto-research" is at all representative of typical "AI research", then presumably it will!

I've seen people saying that with other technologies. Years later, they are still in the same job but a lot richer.

> The AI researchers I know often say they expect the AI to replace their own jobs. Are they expecting the equity they get in some AI company will save them personally from economic ruin, so they're fine with that outcome for everyone else? Or are they expecting AI technology will magically make our society communist?

oaweoifjwpo 2mo ago
> Are they expecting the equity they get in some AI company will save them personally from economic ruin, so they're fine with that outcome? Yes. Basically based on my conversations with coworkers who went to these frontier AI labs: this is happening anyway, so they may as well make the money while they still can.
- palmotea 2mo ago
  > this is happening anyway, so they may as well make the money while they still can. There's got to be a special name for that kind of treachery. I suppose "collaboration," but that doesn't have a nasty enough ring to it. Like a fascist occupation, that dystopia isn't "happening anyway" without collaborators.
  - redsocksfan45 2mo ago
    [dead]
  - Laurel1234 2mo ago
    Traitors to humanity
  - mrhottakes 2mo ago
    "Somebody might do <bad thing> and get rich, might as well be me." I just call these people "cowards"
  - GolfPopper 2mo ago
    'Judas goat' perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat
  - rightbyte 2mo ago
    I think the established word is "class traitors".
- sigbottle 2mo ago
  But making money isn't enough, though? If you think about it from this perspective, what matters far more is connections with the wealthy, or enough power to defend yourself. Which is different from just being rich and chilling. Rich and chilling implies a stable society. But life isn't a video game where you hit some Absolute Level 99 and are impervious to everything. There's no outside justificatior for you - only you are. In this hypothetical society, when GrokBots rule the world, you think they'll care that you're a millionaire? You need to get into the inner circle. I see some really smart professors/PhDs even, going to SV, starting startups, networking, etc. That is consistent with the worldview. But someone who says that AI can replace them but just works at a lab, at least has the belief that they will be automated last. Maybe they believe they can become friends with the AI, I don't know. But let's stop and analyze the situation with a bit more nuance, for more than like, 5 seconds.
tokioyoyo 2mo ago
The former.
jonas21 2mo ago
I know people who believe the end state is a Star Trek-style post-scarcity world. This is not the same thing as communism. You can still have private ownership, differing levels of wealth, entrepreneurship, and competition. It's just that having money is not necessary for survival or to lead a reasonably comfortable life. And they don't believe it will magically happen -- it will take intentional action by governments to get there. This is, perhaps, the reason the AI labs are talking so much about AI replacing people's jobs. It's not arrogance, it's to make sure our leaders are thinking about this now instead of when it's too late to guide the outcome.
- palmotea 2mo ago
  > This is, perhaps, the reason the AI labs are talking so much about AI replacing people's jobs. It's not arrogance, it's to make sure our leaders are thinking about this now instead of when it's too late to guide the outcome. I thought they were talking about AI replacing people's jobs, because that's music to investors' ears. Think about how much wealth concentration would happen if they could hit their goals eat that much of the economy. IIRC, Elon Musk has literally compared the effect of AI on people to the effect of highway construction on an anthill (that's in the way), and kinda shrugged his shoulders.

HarHarVeryFunny 2mo ago

If Karpathy's "auto-research" is at all representative of typical "AI research", then presumably it will!