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AI doesn't replace white collar work

marble.onl

31–40 of 110 posts

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#32

The author talks about jobs requiring a human element but its not always true. A job always requires you to show your task one level higher - to the manager or whoever requires it. For example UI design can be replaced by AI. Unless UI or UX design people were bringing something like _taste_ instead of simply mechanically operating figma - they are not keeping their jobs. I genuinely don't need to learn SQL ever in m…

SQL is so simple “needing to learn” it is a bit like needing learning to tie your shoes. Not really any challenge worth mentioning.

I disagree.

All of these foundation concepts are vocabulary.

We need vocabulary in order to understand and have reasonable conversations.

Do you need to be an expert? Probably not .. but yes, we should all understand.

I think we'll develop personal moats automatically. Some people don't are naturally uninquisitive. They'll be most at risk.

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SQL is so simple “needing to learn” it is a bit like needing learning to tie your shoes. Not really any challenge worth mentioning.

i don't know if this is true or whether people believe this. if you ask other people, they would tell you that sql is a very important skill to learn. i call bs though, like you. sql is a common interview question, like joining and transformation etc. if its so simple maybe they shouldn't be asking this.

I don't see the contradiction. Something can be both very important and not that difficult to learn and not known by a plurality of interviewees. People ask (and fail) fizz-buzz and that's hardly difficult.

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#34

The fact that most of these "everything will be fine because we still need some humans in the loop" arguments never really talk about is that AI doesn't need to replace literally every white collar job to cause massive economic damage. The unemployment rate during the peak of the Great Depression was 25%, not 100%.

The fundamental truth is that we need less people to keep things running as they are running right now.

But who's to say that things will be 'running as they are now' for long? And who knows what a new economy will look like?

If and when that transition occurs, I think the job market will pick up.

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#35
post #23

I'm tired of arguments like this. If AI is helping you do work that you would have otherwise have had to pay people to do, then it is replacing white collar work.

The goal posts are becoming more narrow and these posts are becoming more frequent. It is almost like a therapy session for those facing an existential crisis while they continue to train the very thing that will replace them by giving it more training data to do their work.

This is a bit tricky, though. You could say the goalposts for self-driving cars are becoming narrower, but some things require complete automation to make a significant change.

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#36
I don’t get how you can see where we started three years ago and see where we are today and then _confidently_ say AI will not continue to improve.

It’s not about where we are today folks (the intercept of the line). It’s about the rate of progress (the slope of the line).

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#37
Not sure how "I want to know the meaning of this word" doesn't fall in the author's second category.

Or why he couldn't have asked a human about the NaN thing.

I know those are arbitrary examples but.. the behavior doesn't really seem to depend on the category? It might have to do more with how urgently the knowledge is needed?

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Even if we completely ignore the artistic and technical merit and complexity (which I would argue mostly moved to post-processing images) or the ability to catch or create the moments you want to capture, simply the fact that someone has to hold and point the camera makes it a job that will continue to exist. If you have a wedding and want pictures, someone has to take them. That won't be the bride or the groom, and…

> the ability to catch or create the moments you want to capture, simply the fact that someone has to hold and point the camera makes it a job that will continue to exist

my bad, yeah that part is needed but as an artistic expression i don't see the point.

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#39
post #6

It certainly replaced a couple of white collars that used to do translations and asset creations for CMS, in some projects that I am aware of.

Yeah my job is currently protected due to being clearance work but if we could use AI to its fullest extent we would certainly have too many employees. Perhaps the scope will just increase but until then I see people getting laid off.

Obviously in the long run this is good, more productivity per employee is always better, but short term jobs are changing and people are likely getting laid off (or will at least have more free time)

Re: AI doesn't replace white collar work

#40
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SQL is so simple “needing to learn” it is a bit like needing learning to tie your shoes. Not really any challenge worth mentioning.

I disagree. All of these foundation concepts are vocabulary. We need vocabulary in order to understand and have reasonable conversations. Do you need to be an expert? Probably not .. but yes, we should all understand. I think we'll develop personal moats automatically. Some people don't are naturally uninquisitive. They'll be most at risk.

no they don't need vocabulary, i can vibe code my SQL. for real though, what's the point learning it now for analytics? absolutely none.
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