Technology tends to drive costs down and create more jobs, but in different areas. It’s not like there hasn’t been capture by the super rich in the past 150 years, but somehow we still enjoy better lives decade by decade.
Comment on Most U.S. adults don't believe benefits of AI outweigh the risks, new survey finds
cheery_coffee@lemmy.ca 1 year agoAlright, when the AI takes my job and I can’t feed my family while the billionaires add another digit to their net worth I’ll consider the pros.
There’s about 0% chance we reform society for AI, it will just funnel more wealth to the rich. People claim it will open new jobs but I don’t see it.
PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Jerkface@lemmy.world 1 year ago
People have had the same concerns about automation since basically forever. Automation isn’t the problem. The people who use automation to perpetuate the systems that work against us will continue to find creative ways to exploit us with or without AI. Those people and the systems they perpetuate-- they are the problem. And believe it or not, that problem is imminently solvable.
cheery_coffee@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
It’s fair to compare but you can’t dismiss concerns based on that.
Past automation often removed duplicate or superfluous work type things, AI removes thought work. It’s a fundamentally different kind of automation than we’ve seen before.
It will make many things cheaper to do and easier to start some businesses, but it will also decimate workers. It’s also not something that’s generally available to lower classes to wield yet.
It’s here but I don’t have to be optimistic.
Jerkface@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I fully agree with everything you said. My point is more that if we look at AI as the culprit, we’re missing the point. If I may examine the language you are using a bit-
Employers are the agents. They remove thought work.
Employers will decimate workers.
It would be smart to enact legislation that will mitigate the damage employers enabled by AI will do to wokers, but they will continue to exploit us regardless.
Using language that makes AI the antagonist helps tyrants deflect their overwhelming share of the blame. The responsible parties are people, who can and should be held accountable.
cheery_coffee@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
I don’t think you’re wrong either, but at the same time it’s not feasible for everyone to be their own agent and it’s not feasible to say employers can’t use AI.
I don’t know what the solution is, but I’m prepping for a sudden career change in the next few years.
Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
What’a your solution to Automation reducing the number of workers needed in several industries?
Jerkface@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I want to avoid using the term solution, not least of all because implementation has its own set of challenges, but we used to dream that automation would replace those jobs. Perhaps naively, we assumed that people just wouldn’t have to work as much. And perhaps I continue to be naive in thinking that that should still be our end goal. If automation reduces the required work hours by 20% with no reduction in profit, full time workers should have a 32 hour week with no reduction in income.
But since employers will always pocket that money if given the option, we need more unionization, we need unions to fight for better contracts, we need legislation that will protect and facilitate them, and we need progressive taxation that will decouple workers most essential needs from their employers so they have more of a say in where and how they work, be that universal public services, minimum income guarantee, or what have you.
We’re quite far behind in this fight but there has been some recent progress about which I am pretty optimistic.
Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
This was so very thoughtful, and after reading it, I feel optimistic too. Fuck yeah.