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Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

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Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#321

Post by tomrod »

yreg wrote: post #149
jarjoura wrote: post #134

If the promise of AI means I can do 1/2 the amount of work and maintain my high quality life, then I'm all for it. However, every advancement that has come in the last 100 years that improved efficiency has only meant we're pushed to work more and do more. So I am now expected to do 2x the work. If you're really dreaming for AI that can wipe-out entire classes of decent middle-class jobs in one big swing, don't forge…

The mean quality of life is sky high compared to 100 years ago and it is such thanks to the advancement made.

Not sure, sounds like that is a baked measurement intended to superficially mollify people. Medicine and health costs more than ever. Inequality higher than ever. Sure, we can buy cheapish bread and occasional circuses, but is that a valid measure of life?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#322

Post by seanmcdirmid »

bushbaba wrote: post #234
usednet wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The logical conclusion that people don’t like to hear is that there will need to be a fundamental restructuring of the economy. AI will, in the not so distant future, eliminate the vast majority of jobs. The choice will then be between a socialized economy or barbarism.

Totally disagree. You could have said the same of Industrial Revolution. Yet here we are living better lives from the technological breakthroughs. AI will just usher the next industrial revolution of the modern era.

There will come a point when technology has advanced to the point to make most human labor obsolete. We are mostly just arguing about when that will happen, not if it will happen. I agree though, at this point, we could just be seeing another productivity boost that still requires human labor.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#323

Post by Gehinnn »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #316
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One tractor can do the work of tens of people easily, and in the last ~150-200 years, we've gone from a vast majority of people producing food to a tiny minority, while the rest can be social media managers and feng-shui specialist. One excell spreadsheet can do the work of a 100+ paper-based accountants, and that's even before a database and automation. We could've stopped at tractors, lived the same lifestyle as be…

Key difference: productivity gains in agriculture made food not only more plentiful, but also cheaper. We can say the same for the steam engine and transportation. It made it cheaper to move goods and people. Question is whether advancements in AI translate to making some fundamental goods or services cheaper and more accessible.

Doesn't the free market regulate this?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#324

Post by 0xDEF »

almost_usual wrote: post #155
yreg wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mean quality of life is sky high compared to 100 years ago and it is such thanks to the advancement made.

And as the Earth burns away and we choke on the smoke we rejoice as we have our AI entertainment and we can go quietly into the night.

Localized toxic pollutants in air (smoke etc.) and water have been significantly reduced compared to 100 years ago.

However we have been too slow to reduce the CO2 emissions that are causing climate change exactly because it doesn't have an immediate local toxic effect.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#325

Post by ricardonunez »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #316
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One tractor can do the work of tens of people easily, and in the last ~150-200 years, we've gone from a vast majority of people producing food to a tiny minority, while the rest can be social media managers and feng-shui specialist. One excell spreadsheet can do the work of a 100+ paper-based accountants, and that's even before a database and automation. We could've stopped at tractors, lived the same lifestyle as be…

Key difference: productivity gains in agriculture made food not only more plentiful, but also cheaper. We can say the same for the steam engine and transportation. It made it cheaper to move goods and people. Question is whether advancements in AI translate to making some fundamental goods or services cheaper and more accessible.

It is going to make profits more accessible to those at the top; that’s that.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#326

Post by ghaff »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #292
ghaff wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Could you give an example of "transactions happening easily and reliably through a computer system"? Sure. A random travel booking. A stock purchase. Checking my account balance anywhere. These are all things that took visiting travel agents, brokers, and waiting for delayed monthly statements previously. We made a lot of phone calls and went into offices for multiple hours to handle things.

I think your examples also highlight the issue at hand - the automated systems are great when they work, but when they don't work it means that there are now a lot fewer real humans that can solve your problem. Take travel bookings. When I know where I'm going and have relatively firm dates, I'd much prefer the ease of online booking. However, when I'm more in the mood of "I want to go on vacation to country X, but I…

I do do trips through specialized agents, sometimes with guides sometimes without, so yeah I don’t depend on general travel agents in general.There are private trips for someone going through some of these companies but they’re probably pretty expensive

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#327

Post by jacquesm »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #297
asdf6677 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe da…

Not much is stopping you from living in a log cabin in the woods.

Not a chance of that around here. And with any solution you have to ask yourself: does it scale? What if the current population of the earth would want to live in a log cabin in the woods? The woods would no longer be the woods.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#328

Post by _a_a_a_ »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #310
jarjoura wrote: post #134

If the promise of AI means I can do 1/2 the amount of work and maintain my high quality life, then I'm all for it. However, every advancement that has come in the last 100 years that improved efficiency has only meant we're pushed to work more and do more. So I am now expected to do 2x the work. If you're really dreaming for AI that can wipe-out entire classes of decent middle-class jobs in one big swing, don't forge…

One tractor can do the work of tens of people easily, and in the last ~150-200 years, we've gone from a vast majority of people producing food to a tiny minority, while the rest can be social media managers and feng-shui specialist. One excell spreadsheet can do the work of a 100+ paper-based accountants, and that's even before a database and automation. We could've stopped at tractors, lived the same lifestyle as be…

Hot water, sewers, decent food, television and films, warm & damp-resistant housing, electric lights and much more and I'm glad of it. I remember living in places where hot water had to come from a kettle and the house was cold and in winter the damp rose nearly to the ceiling from the floor. And the food back then was expensive and pretty bad.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#329

Post by somewhereoutth »

pjmlp wrote: post #51

This is just the start, just wait until most LLM can outperform junior devs on the quality of generated code.

Might be waiting a long time. Just like self driving cars, the last 1% is the most crucial and the hardest.

Except of course LLM generated code is nowhere near the last 1%, and in any case very much misses what writing code is actually about - namely, communication with other humans.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#330

Post by MisterBastahrd »

tmpz22 wrote: post #279
diatone wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth pointing out, we live better lives not just from the technological breakthroughs, but also from the social movements that have brought us things like the 40-hour work week and keeping children from labour for a reasonable time. Which were direct responses to the Industrial Revolution.

And we're starting to see the repeal of Labor laws in the US - newly passed or pending laws allow companies to hire children without work permits and allow children to work longer hours under more dangerous conditions in places like construction sites, meat packing plants, and automobile factories. [1]: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172544561/new-state-laws-are...

There are states in the US who want to enjoy all the benefits of living in an advanced society but also want the social and political status quo of the 1910s.
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