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It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

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Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#111

Post by ForHackernews »

TT3351 wrote: post #107
me_me_me wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BNW world is designed to be pure meritocracy. It really does make you think about their world at the end. And its not really evil oppressive world like 1984. Its just purely mechanical construction that to us look like dystopia. I agree we are and are heading is technological aristocracy where tech is used to keep people in line. Divided over crazy theories, societal issues and squabbling over leftovers. Just give th…

Meritocracy set out from birth, no? Are not all people in that book test tube children with specific selected genomes? I fail to see how creating a class of genetic garbage men, relegated to working with trash for their entire lives is "meritocratic," since advocates of the meritocracy concept generally rely on the system's alleged mobility.

Reminder that "meritocracy" came to prominence in a satirical essay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy

Unfortunately a bunch of folks read that and thought it was a great idea.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#112

Post by pmoriarty »

ryaniscool wrote: post #33

Personally, I think a future where AI can do most jobs is frightening. It will be run by a group of relatively few elites that are involved in power struggles for control of the AI and the rest of us that do stuff like pick fruit (assuming it's cheaper than having an AI do it) and serve as cannon fodder in the AI armies. I find people who believe that it will lead to some kind of Utopia horribly naive and they have n…

"the rest of us that do stuff like pick fruit (assuming it's cheaper than having an AI do it) and serve as cannon fodder in the AI armies."

The lucky ones will be shining their shoes, giving them massages, tutoring their kids, cooking their meals, and giving them manicures.

Many will prefer the human touch for things like that, even if they could be done by machines, and having human servants has always been a status symbol.

This is what the non-wealthy among us have to look forward to.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#113

Post by papreclip »

tim333 wrote: post #55
ryaniscool wrote: post #33

Personally, I think a future where AI can do most jobs is frightening. It will be run by a group of relatively few elites that are involved in power struggles for control of the AI and the rest of us that do stuff like pick fruit (assuming it's cheaper than having an AI do it) and serve as cannon fodder in the AI armies. I find people who believe that it will lead to some kind of Utopia horribly naive and they have n…

We went through a comparable transition from most people working in agriculture and farming to that being automated away and people doing stuff that hadn't been much worried about before. Given human nature hasn't changed I imagine it will be similar.

Industrial agriculture has had disastrous consequences in the form of overpopulation, we just haven't felt them yet. Global warming and every other problem caused by overpopulation are all a result of industrial nitrogen fixation and large scale farming producing enough food.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#114

Post by wcerfgba »

fancyfredbot wrote: post #7

"My living room is used for business meetings when I am not there"? No thanks!

The author ignores the difference between personal property and private property. It is true that you do not use either your living room nor your lawnmower 24/7, but your living room is a highly personal space that you customise to fit your own needs and desires, whereas most people are not as emotionally attached to their lawnmowers.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#115

Post by andreilys »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #68
tim333 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We went through a comparable transition from most people working in agriculture and farming to that being automated away and people doing stuff that hadn't been much worried about before. Given human nature hasn't changed I imagine it will be similar.

And then again during the industrial revolution and consequent automation, where the work previously done by 10 people is now done by 1. It's cyclical, and while I will concede that people lose their jobs because of automation, zooming out to the overall jobs market (and figures, which probably don't tell the whole story) things haven't really changed much. On an individual level though, people lose their jobs and li…

It’s not just “low-paying, dumb jobs” that are at risk.

AI can also help augment the work of “high-paying, smart jobs”.

Meaning that instead of hiring ten lawyers, you can hire one lawyer and a license to lawyer.ai which will empower the one lawyer to do the work of ten.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#116

Post by TT3351 »

throwaway316943 wrote: post #23
jpttsn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very cynical counter argument is rarely spoken: Owning my things provides value even when I’m not using them, because I benefit from excluding other people (my competition) from using them. Example: The sports car locked in my garage helps keep sports cars away from other people, which maintains their benefit of conferring status. It provides utility even if I basically never drive it. This side of human nature i…

It’s not even just exclusion. Can you imagine the scheduling nightmare this would induce? Your personal life would be run minute to minute by your calendar. Any time you wanted to do anything it would either have to be booked in advance or you’d have to wait for delivery. This article seems to be written from the perspective of someone who likes spending their time in coffee shops and riding their bike around in circ…

I believe the implication is that AI handles this complicated work

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#117

Post by TeMPOraL »

vulcan01 wrote: post #106
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then again during the industrial revolution and consequent automation, where the work previously done by 10 people is now done by 1. It's cyclical, and while I will concede that people lose their jobs because of automation, zooming out to the overall jobs market (and figures, which probably don't tell the whole story) things haven't really changed much. On an individual level though, people lose their jobs and li…

> if everyone has a baseline income, nobody does I believe the argument for UBI is based on economic utility: $1000 a month is worth more to a poor person than a rich person.

I think the counterargument is that if everyone suddenly has $1000/month more, the market will very quickly eat it all, as prices readjust to consume the extra disposable income.

I want UBI to work. But I haven't heard of a good strategy to mitigate what I just described.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#118

Post by motohagiography »

What the author describes is humans living in captivity.

There is a cadre of people who argue, "really? you wouldn't survive a day outside this so-called captivity, tough guy" and then go on to justify how their various compromises are somehow moral. To me that whole line of argument is just indoors cats lecturing outdoors cats about how to manage the shame of dependency, which outdoors cats just don't have.

If we do not learn to limit the power of people who wield tech, we will become their captives. This was the whole reason to be a hacker, to act as a check on having humanity dominated by our own tech.

Re: It's 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better (2016)

#120

Post by Kronmonker »

What an unintentionally horrifying dystopia. In our city we don't pay any rent, because someone else is using our free space whenever we do not need it. My living room is used for business meetings when I am not there. If you don't pay the rent, it's not your living room. You are camping out in somone's office.
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