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Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

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Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#21

Post by jxh11 »

happytoexplain wrote: post #7
rgbrenner wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

was the industrial revolution oriented for ordinary people at the time it occurred? were a lot of workers buying flying shuttles in the 1700s?

I'm confused - you're suggesting that past suffering justifies present suffering?

My first day of orientation at the CS dept was at the height of the dot com crash. I think I got told by 20+ seniors that day to drop out before paying a single bill. That it was all pointless and the internet was an over valued bubble and no one was getting hired. Mood on campus was scary for almost two years post the crash. If we had social media back then I can only imagine how much more fears would have been amplified.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#22

Post by Sh0000reZ »

danaris wrote: post #11
richwater wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite an unsubstantiated leap. The world has gone through plenty of digital transformations and the number of people in poverty has only _shrank_.

Yes, but during those transformations, the CEOs of the companies selling the products involved weren't actively and aggressively marketing them as being able to replace all the humans they employ . You can't have it both ways: either LLMs are an amazing, revolutionary technology that can replace many human jobs in unprecedented ways, or it's going to be a mild transition that really only helps people.

[flagged]

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#23

Post by pixl97 »

rgbrenner wrote: post #4
fullshark wrote: post #3

They are both right, the revolution needs to be oriented for ordinary people and college kids to benefit from it or else their attitude is wholly justified. There's basically no reason for them to cheer on a future of trillion dollar corporations using AI services to battle for knowledge work market share.

was the industrial revolution oriented for ordinary people at the time it occurred? were a lot of workers buying flying shuttles in the 1700s?

I mean the Luddites were mad for a reason, and many may forget the industrial revolution was a rather bloody affair.

Avoiding a repeat of that would be great while also increasing productivity would be good.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#24

Post by madaxe_again »

danaris wrote: post #11
richwater wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite an unsubstantiated leap. The world has gone through plenty of digital transformations and the number of people in poverty has only _shrank_.

Yes, but during those transformations, the CEOs of the companies selling the products involved weren't actively and aggressively marketing them as being able to replace all the humans they employ . You can't have it both ways: either LLMs are an amazing, revolutionary technology that can replace many human jobs in unprecedented ways, or it's going to be a mild transition that really only helps people.

That was exactly what a great many things were marketed as, such as the jacquard loom and dynamite.

What actually happened in each case was that employment went up for a good long while, as the efficiency boost to the sectors touched made investment far more viable. Eventually successive rounds of automation did reduce employment in each of weaving and mining, but it wasn’t an overnight catastrophe as initially advertised or feared.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#25

Post by surgical_fire »

jklinger410 wrote: post #6

If you want people to like AI, show them a future that doesn't leave them in abject poverty.

The funny thing is that it's not even true. People invested in AI just glee at the thought of common men in abject poverty, so this is the marketing that stuck.

Shows you don't need to have red skin and horns to delight in the suffering of starving people.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#26

Post by RankingMember »

Rightfully so. Unfettered capitalism will only end with a bunch of rich people producing and selling the means of living to the rest of us at just the right markup to keep their feet on our throats. Organized labor needs a resurgence in a big way.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#27

Post by hirvi74 »

throwway262515 wrote: post #17
hirvi74 wrote: post #13

[flagged]

Have you also wondered how many of them owe their college degree to the colored worker that prepped their meals?

No, I have not. I am also unaware of college students booing such oddly specific entity during a commencement speech.

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#28

Post by iugtmkbdfil834 »

hirvi74 wrote: post #13

[flagged]

Owe is an interesting choice of a word. Don't get me wrong, I personally am of the opinion that, by default, most schools for most programs, the related body of works can be accomplished by a warm body ( some of it based on personal anecdotes -- in US mind you ). There are exceptions and those include some non-humanities and, well, people who are curious ( but that was always true for them ).

Still, just because a technology facilitates something does not make their distaste any less potent. If anything, they recognize how much of world's building blocks are a fancy facade ( mild alliteration intended ).

Re: Students boo commencement speaker after she calls AI next industrial revolution

#30

Post by JumpCrisscross »

danaris wrote: post #11
richwater wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite an unsubstantiated leap. The world has gone through plenty of digital transformations and the number of people in poverty has only _shrank_.

Yes, but during those transformations, the CEOs of the companies selling the products involved weren't actively and aggressively marketing them as being able to replace all the humans they employ . You can't have it both ways: either LLMs are an amazing, revolutionary technology that can replace many human jobs in unprecedented ways, or it's going to be a mild transition that really only helps people.

> the CEOs of the companies selling the products involved weren't actively and aggressively marketing them as being able to replace all the humans they employ

The assembly line was explicitly about replacing skilled with relatively unskilled labor.

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