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Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

economist.com

11–20 of 164 posts

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#14
I hope this results in a rebalancing of the social and economic power of high-IQ versus average-IQ workers. We will need construction workers and tradespeople to build and maintain these AI data centers. Probably even with robots. But we won’t need as many engineers, lawyers, and other people whose job it is to consume and generate bits. If we tax the proceeds of AI generated productivity sufficiently, this could be the beginning of returning to the dynamics of the 1940s-1960s, where economic power was more concentrated among skilled blue collar workers than it is now.

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#15
post #6

If most of the jobs its creating are related to construction of infrastructure then that's not really positive news as these jobs are temporary, once demand settles then why kind of jobs are going to be created? It might be benefiting other areas, but I think as the technology improves a lot of those are going to start looking like what's happening in software development (which is arguably what the technology is bes…

AI construction jobs are temporary up to Kardashev 3 or so.

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#16
post #6

If most of the jobs its creating are related to construction of infrastructure then that's not really positive news as these jobs are temporary, once demand settles then why kind of jobs are going to be created? It might be benefiting other areas, but I think as the technology improves a lot of those are going to start looking like what's happening in software development (which is arguably what the technology is bes…

[deleted]

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#17
While I'm still catastrophically worried about what AI means for my career, I've noticed that my current employer - very AI forward, and growing the team - is still facing an ever expanding backlog.

High productivity is generally good for the employee, unless you're productive enough you run out of work to do. So how much code is needed?

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#18
post #10
post #3

Remind me what percentage of the workforce works “AI jobs”?

Well one way to look at it is: As a programmer, but working in two non-SWE roles, I have turned job A 70% over to AI, and job B 90%. Where systems and scaffolds can be put in place to manage various aspects of a job, would this not be considered, partially, an "AI job"? If you work in government grants and R&D, what if agents can now triage 100-1000x the opportunity count that you could ever handle alone, and you had…

I think they mean jobs directly related to AI, not merely exercising AI to increase productivity:

AI is also creating a new class of white-collar jobs. Engineers build the models, data annotators label their inputs and judge their answers, “forward-deployed” engineers adapt them for customers, and newly minted “heads of AI” decide what companies should do with the technology.

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#19

Paywalled > On September 4th the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the American economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far above expectations. Good news that ought to be taken with a pinch of salt given how the current administration responds to unfavorable BLS data - > On Friday, August 1, [2025] President Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer from her role as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BL…

The first series of "Blackadder" has a vignette of such reportage:

Messenger 3: My Lord, news…

King: What?

Messenger 3: Lord Wessex is dead.

King: This news is not so good.

Messenger 3: Pardon, My Lord?

King: I like it not. Bring me some other news.

Messenger 3: Pardon, My Lord?

King: I LIKE NOT THIS NEWS! BRING ME SOME OTHER NEWS!!!

Messenger 3: Yes, My Lord!

(Messenger 3 leaves; King tosses things around angrily; Messenger 4 enters — actually just Messenger 3 pretending to be a new messenger delivering new news.)

Messenger 4: My Lord, news…

King: What?

Messenger 4: Lord Wessex is not dead.

King: Ah, good news! Let there be joy and celebration; let jubilation reign!

Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive

#20
AI boosters: "look, AI is creating jobs, all of these doomers scaring you with job loses, don't listen to them"

also AI boosters: "we are going to build a million robots, and the robots will build factories producing robots, there will be infinite abundance, nobody will need to work anymore"

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