Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

Post by joe_the_user » Fri, Jun 08, 2018, 9:07 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #53

nerdponx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting that this thread and the "chatbots aren't so great after all" thread hit the front page on the same day. Anyone who actually thought people gave a shit about chatbots was either deluded, a chatbot API salesman, or a manager/owner trying to cut costs by downsizing their call/chat support center. Anyone who actually thought the gig economy was helping anyone but business owners was either deluded or a shill…

> Anyone who actually thought people gave a shit about chatbots was either deluded People don't need to give a shit about chatbots. A large amount of people deal with them all the time. Every time you decide to use chat to get help from some site that provides s service for you, what do you think the odds are you're first connected to a human? By having chatbots do the initial contact and information gathering, you c…

Post by jpao79 » Fri, Jun 08, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC

lkrubner wrote: post #7

oli5679 wrote: post #2

Reminds me of the economist Robert Solow's quip: "You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics."

This is a good comment. It is interesting to consider how much rhetoric there is about robots and AI and Machine Learning and how these technologies can revolutionize work and lead to big productivity gains. And yet, in reality, the economy shows no sign of this. Productivity growth was very strong in the mid-20th century, but since 1973 productivity growth has been stagnant.

Post by zabzonk » Fri, Jun 08, 2018, 9:09 PM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #42

When I first arrived in London my English was not good enough to speak on the phone, I had no idea what the London job market for developers looked like, I had no idea where should I live and where should I settle. So for the first 3-4 months, I did some wine waiting as a gig(agency work, no fixed place or hours. Like with Uber, you provide your own gear - like uniforms, bottle openers etc.) at the finest, the most i…

Post by gowld » Fri, Jun 08, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

robotbikes wrote: post #63

tmpz22 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saw this on the of a bus in SF and started laughing. Low pay contractor work is the way to get unchained in SF? You won't even be able to make rent unless you're in the top percentile.

I saw someone on fiverr offering to install Java on Ububtu Linux starting at 100$. That sounds about right. For the most part these sort of race to the bottom gigs would only work if your cost of living were really low relative to the $ amount. I did Amazon Turk work mainly out of curiosity/boredom, at one point I transcribed a conference call for some UK non-profit. I think it paid like 3-4$ and took me a few hours.…

Post by conanbatt » Fri, Jun 08, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #14

lalos wrote: post #5

It did reshape it. Turns out you can offload your costs to your 'employees' that hardly will organize and project costs and earnings to the future (like a competent business). I've talked with bunch of car sharing drivers who were bamboozled with car loans, get hit by traffic infractions, costs of maintenance and the list goes on and on. I feel that the gig economy preys on people who have not developed that risk man…

Interesting that this thread and the "chatbots aren't so great after all" thread hit the front page on the same day. Anyone who actually thought people gave a shit about chatbots was either deluded, a chatbot API salesman, or a manager/owner trying to cut costs by downsizing their call/chat support center. Anyone who actually thought the gig economy was helping anyone but business owners was either deluded or a shill…