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Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

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Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#31

Post by surokbut »

rvz wrote: post #24
chipuni wrote: post #2

The easiest job to replace must be the CEO. Look at Musk. He's CEO of six companies (or so), yet has time to run DOGE and constantly post on X.

> The easiest job to replace must be the CEO. So why didn't Warren Buffet replace himself as CEO with an AI, but instead he chose a human?

Anyone born in Buffets generation and are not rich wasn’t even getting out of bed.

A proper assessment of their skill relative to the ground truth they lived would be nice. One cannot simply walk into an office and rub elbows now. And the other half of the gender, and minorities make up a much larger part of the work force

New Deal bootstrapping then Reaganomics putting thumbs on the scales for those generations too.

His biggest asset was J&J when government was spending tons on health propaganda and grooming cause Americans used to be a bunch of greasy slobs. Oh look comb and toothbrush and mouthwash sales are staples buy buy buy then inflate through media propaganda and tax policy.

He was not a wizard.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#32

Post by _fzslm »

singron wrote: post #8

I think you might not get serious responses, but I think this is an interesting question since I think AI is a better fit for management than many other jobs. Nobody would have believed it 10 years ago, but today AI is more likely to replace a concept artist than an accountant, so it's not beyond imagination to replace a manager even if the ICs are still human. AI excels at summarization, which is a big part of the j…

> Nobody would have believed it 10 years ago, but today AI is more likely to replace a concept artist than an accountant

Do you really think so? I understand the basic sentiment of your statement but having tried to use AI for concept art, I was very disappointed at its lack of originality. Especially in an inevitably oversaturated market of AI creative work, I see the value of good human conceptual artists only rising.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#33

Post by rvz »

Well, we are almost half-way through the year since this prediction [0] and the full assault on knowledge workers is underway (as expected) and is replacing them with AI via mass layoffs across the tech industry and beyond and it is the complete endgame of the intelligent age.

You will see this magnified by this year's Google I/O announcements.

Anytime they mention "AGI", it really is the goal of AI replacing humans from their jobs that are economically useful. (Not the benefit of humanity bullshit.)

In 10 - 15 years time, the questions from those who got out of tech would be:

Did you that humans used to program computers?

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42490692

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#34

Post by jagger27 »

Managers will be replaced by AI when people are willing to work for them. Does anyone really want that? Who the fuck wants to work for an unaccountable machine who you can’t grab a beer with after work? How much life are you willing to abstract away in the name of “efficiency”? To what end?

The exact same thing applies if you are a manager, do you really want a flock of loyal electric sheep to do your bidding? If you’re in management for control over others, how is that satisfying? If you’re in it to mentor, who comes after you? How?

Why does anyone want this? Our societies are already so mechanized and automated yet somehow we have less time than the average medieval peasant to enjoy our allegedly easier lives. What toil has been eliminated thus far?

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#35

Post by bee_rider »

I expect it will take a while.

Nobody really wants to decrease the number of humans in their fiefdom, right?

However, if AI actually works out and produces tools that make people, like, 5x more effective, than a software company can replace an existing one at 1/5 the cost with 1/5 the engineers. Fewer people to manage, less deep corporate tree, and maybe some of those middle layers will also use AI…

But nobody wants to decrease the size of their fiefdom, so that company will need to be built from the ground up and then wipe out the competition.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#36

Post by tayo42 »

rvz wrote: post #24
chipuni wrote: post #2

The easiest job to replace must be the CEO. Look at Musk. He's CEO of six companies (or so), yet has time to run DOGE and constantly post on X.

> The easiest job to replace must be the CEO. So why didn't Warren Buffet replace himself as CEO with an AI, but instead he chose a human?

Probably because not all CEOs are the same, like anything people do. There's good and involved ones and other where we wonder what they're really doing.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#37

Post by quantadev »

I'm still trying to decide what I'm gonna do the first time a company tries to have their AI Bot interview me for a job. Will I accept that offer or reject the interview? I'm undecided. I'll probably refuse.

However I think an AI would maybe be more honest, about how well I do and my super high skill level perhaps, and not simply reject people for being over 50, White, Male, Overqualified, and good looking, as is [or dare I say was] the custom with DEI hiring practices, for the last decade...or two.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#38

Post by autobodie »

singron wrote: post #8

I think you might not get serious responses, but I think this is an interesting question since I think AI is a better fit for management than many other jobs. Nobody would have believed it 10 years ago, but today AI is more likely to replace a concept artist than an accountant, so it's not beyond imagination to replace a manager even if the ICs are still human. AI excels at summarization, which is a big part of the j…

If a company wants to stay in business, the legal risk of AI bots firing people is probably not worth the cost savings. Until that changes, I don't think there's much to discuss, but that may not be long given the way things are going.

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#39

Post by woah »

OutOfHere wrote: post #25

Managers are the parasitic class, so they will take the company down with them, and will never be replaced. One can however start a new firm without them and without AI. All you need is to measure commits and communications to know if someone is working and how they should be organized. It doesn't even require AI.

Who measures them and how do they judge quality?

Re: Ask HN: When will managers be replaced by AI?

#40

Post by ninetyninenine »

Leadership is the one doing the "replacing". They won't replace themselves. They'll replace you first.

Also there's tons of science validating how the most unqualified and unfit people make it to leadership positions. If you're a leader, most likely you're not a good one. So it's not like the industry knows a good leader when they see it. So if AI is a better manager, the industry doesn't care. It's politics and ass kissing that gets them up there.

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