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This is not meant to be tongue in cheek comment but has anybody figured out how the companies manage the "everyone is going to be replaced in a year" rhetoric w

by ppalata 16d ago

This is not meant to be tongue in cheek comment but has anybody figured out how the companies manage the "everyone is going to be replaced in a year" rhetoric while also working hard on ads that are clearly designed for humans to consume?

RugnirViking 16d ago
everyone is laboring under the assumption that things will continue approximately as normal because what the hell else do you do? how, as amazon, would you plan for the collapse of all economies and markets? sure, as maybe an amazon exec you plan for you and yours, but amazon the behemoth? its got nothing.
exitb 16d ago
Even if they’re on a path to make economy obsolete, they still need money right now to get there.
paxys 16d ago
Messages are tailored for the audience. The "AI will replace all jobs" narrative is used to sell AI to business leaders.
- SoftTalker 16d ago
  And who will these businesses have for customers when nobody else has a job?
  - yencabulator 15d ago
    Only this and the next quarter matter.
lenerdenator 16d ago
It is the job of management to figure out how to make gains over the next 90 days, not make gains sustainable. The money available for consumers to spend in wake of their unemployment is the problem for whenever that issue occurs. If there isn't a good way, you break the company up, sell it for scrap, give the resulting money to the shareholders, and they do whatever with it. It's the Jack Welch model.
- ToucanLoucan 16d ago
  > It is the job of management to figure out how to make gains over the next 90 days, not make gains sustainable. This is the cancer that has killed so many otherwise good businesses here.
  - lenerdenator 16d ago
    Oh, no question. But realize, that is their mindset.
paimapi 16d ago
the MBA logic based on a very biased and small sample size from a very select timeframe in the 1980s is that advertising during a recession leads to higher payouts when the economy recovers: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-dont-skimp-on-their-ad-budgets/ https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wha... there's also a lot of language about preying on people's insecurities by selling them an artificial sense of agency which is a fun reminder of how manipulative marketers are
- officeplant 16d ago
  Bill Hicks really did say it best when it came to marketing: "By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing… kill yourself. It’s just a little thought; I’m just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they’ll take root – I don’t know. You try, you do what you can."
  - embedding-shape 16d ago
    The rest of that show is great too, if I remember correctly he goes on ranting about it more and it includes him calling marketers "Satan's little helpers" and blaming them for filling the world with garbage. Basically the wet dream of the people pushing AI hard right now, so sounds like a match made in heaven.
  - hnlmorg 16d ago
    I was recently rewatching one of Hicks routines for the first time in possibly 20 years and his content is just as relevant now, if not more so, than it was 30+ years ago when he wrote and performed it.
    - embedding-shape 16d ago
      Helps that Hicks was borderline obsessed with hating marketing and marketers, and they're an even bigger pest today than 30 years ago. I guess that's how you make your content relevant through the ages, target the parasites :)
bakugo 16d ago
I believe "classical" advertisements, as in those intended to convince the average person to purchase a tangible product, are on their way out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed an increasing percentage of ads that fall outside of that category - either aimed at business owners and wannabe entrepreneurs, trying to sell some sort of get rich quick scheme, or just straight up scams.
ajkjk 16d ago
Your mistake is parsing rhetoric as anything other than made up.
Betelbuddy 16d ago
The amount of logic and thoughtful reasoning in your comment is so strong, its making my head hurt. Why are you raining on our IPO parade?
bakies 16d ago
They want agent driven shopping and ads to sell to those agents
gpm 16d ago
By making decisions under the assumption that society will continue. Even under the reduction to absurdity of everyone's jobs being replaced in a year, there's still some system of allocating resources and they would still like more resources allocated to them. That system still likely bears resemblance to the current economy and convincing people/selling the ability to convince people is likely still a valuable ability to have.
- bluefirebrand 16d ago
  > By making decisions under the assumption that society will continue That seems completely at odds with "everyone will be replaced by AI" > Even under the reduction to absurdity of everyone's jobs being replaced in a year, there's still some system of allocating resources and they would still like more resources allocated to them I pretty strongly disagree. If everyone's jobs are replaced, I think society is over. I just don't believe that the UBI style future is going to play out in any kind of peaceful way
  - gpm 16d ago
    > That seems completely at odds with "everyone will be replaced by AI" You yourself give an example of how it might not be, UBI. The assumption doesn't have to be likely here. It can be the case that you think society is probably going to end - that UBI (nor any other measure to preserve society) won't be implemented or will fail. Whether that's today with AI, or yesteryear with being convinced society will end in premature nuclear armageddon. It's just that if society ends nothing you do has a notable impact (especially as a corporate entity which exists merely as an agreed upon abstraction, but even as a human) - so you might as well behave under the assumption that somehow society will persist whether through UBI or something else. (I'd like to note somewhere that this entire post is also reasoning under the reduction to absurdity here that every job is performed by AI as of next year - not something I actually think is remotely likely.)
pllbnk 16d ago
Companies are driven by people oriented at the next quarter's goals to maximize their stock portfolio's value. Nobody cares what will happen, everybody just creates narratives.

by ppalata 16d ago

RugnirViking 16d ago

everyone is laboring under the assumption that things will continue approximately as normal because what the hell else do you do? how, as amazon, would you plan for the collapse of all economies and markets? sure, as maybe an amazon exec you plan for you and yours, but amazon the behemoth? its got nothing.

exitb 16d ago

Even if they’re on a path to make economy obsolete, they still need money right now to get there.

paxys 16d ago

Messages are tailored for the audience. The "AI will replace all jobs" narrative is used to sell AI to business leaders.

SoftTalker 16d ago
And who will these businesses have for customers when nobody else has a job?
- yencabulator 15d ago
  Only this and the next quarter matter.

lenerdenator 16d ago

It is the job of management to figure out how to make gains over the next 90 days, not make gains sustainable. The money available for consumers to spend in wake of their unemployment is the problem for whenever that issue occurs. If there isn't a good way, you break the company up, sell it for scrap, give the resulting money to the shareholders, and they do whatever with it. It's the Jack Welch model.

ToucanLoucan 16d ago
> It is the job of management to figure out how to make gains over the next 90 days, not make gains sustainable. This is the cancer that has killed so many otherwise good businesses here.
- lenerdenator 16d ago
  Oh, no question. But realize, that is their mindset.

paimapi 16d ago

the MBA logic based on a very biased and small sample size from a very select timeframe in the 1980s is that advertising during a recession leads to higher payouts when the economy recovers: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-dont-skimp-on-their-ad-budgets/ https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wha... there's also a lot of language about preying on people's insecurities by selling them an artificial sense of agency which is a fun reminder of how manipulative marketers are

officeplant 16d ago
Bill Hicks really did say it best when it came to marketing: "By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing… kill yourself. It’s just a little thought; I’m just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they’ll take root – I don’t know. You try, you do what you can."
- embedding-shape 16d ago
  The rest of that show is great too, if I remember correctly he goes on ranting about it more and it includes him calling marketers "Satan's little helpers" and blaming them for filling the world with garbage. Basically the wet dream of the people pushing AI hard right now, so sounds like a match made in heaven.
- hnlmorg 16d ago
  I was recently rewatching one of Hicks routines for the first time in possibly 20 years and his content is just as relevant now, if not more so, than it was 30+ years ago when he wrote and performed it.
  - embedding-shape 16d ago
    Helps that Hicks was borderline obsessed with hating marketing and marketers, and they're an even bigger pest today than 30 years ago. I guess that's how you make your content relevant through the ages, target the parasites :)

bakugo 16d ago

I believe "classical" advertisements, as in those intended to convince the average person to purchase a tangible product, are on their way out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed an increasing percentage of ads that fall outside of that category - either aimed at business owners and wannabe entrepreneurs, trying to sell some sort of get rich quick scheme, or just straight up scams.

ajkjk 16d ago

Your mistake is parsing rhetoric as anything other than made up.

Betelbuddy 16d ago

The amount of logic and thoughtful reasoning in your comment is so strong, its making my head hurt. Why are you raining on our IPO parade?

bakies 16d ago

They want agent driven shopping and ads to sell to those agents

gpm 16d ago

By making decisions under the assumption that society will continue. Even under the reduction to absurdity of everyone's jobs being replaced in a year, there's still some system of allocating resources and they would still like more resources allocated to them. That system still likely bears resemblance to the current economy and convincing people/selling the ability to convince people is likely still a valuable ability to have.

bluefirebrand 16d ago
> By making decisions under the assumption that society will continue That seems completely at odds with "everyone will be replaced by AI" > Even under the reduction to absurdity of everyone's jobs being replaced in a year, there's still some system of allocating resources and they would still like more resources allocated to them I pretty strongly disagree. If everyone's jobs are replaced, I think society is over. I just don't believe that the UBI style future is going to play out in any kind of peaceful way
- gpm 16d ago
  > That seems completely at odds with "everyone will be replaced by AI" You yourself give an example of how it might not be, UBI. The assumption doesn't have to be likely here. It can be the case that you think society is probably going to end - that UBI (nor any other measure to preserve society) won't be implemented or will fail. Whether that's today with AI, or yesteryear with being convinced society will end in premature nuclear armageddon. It's just that if society ends nothing you do has a notable impact (especially as a corporate entity which exists merely as an agreed upon abstraction, but even as a human) - so you might as well behave under the assumption that somehow society will persist whether through UBI or something else. (I'd like to note somewhere that this entire post is also reasoning under the reduction to absurdity here that every job is performed by AI as of next year - not something I actually think is remotely likely.)

pllbnk 16d ago

Companies are driven by people oriented at the next quarter's goals to maximize their stock portfolio's value. Nobody cares what will happen, everybody just creates narratives.