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AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

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Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#141

Post by phil21 »

wiseowise wrote: post #53
byebyetech wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the reason why Oligarchs and Governments are salivating at AI. To make everyone dependent for a paycheck. Any dystopian fantasy can come true after that.

> Any dystopian fantasy can come true after that. Why after that? AI hasn't even kicked in yet fully and we already have millions of engineers trembling in fear. Gone the golden days of techies demanding things, corpo is back with revenge.

Corpo was never gone. It’s just that it’s culling a bunch of useful idiots who thought they were part of the club. Most of whom gleefully automated other folks out of jobs without a moment of introspection. The mafia boss tying up loose ends with his hitmen after a successful mission and no other targets left to deal with.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#142

Post by nubinetwork »

ricardobayes wrote: post #66
mewpmewp2 wrote: post #11

I am probably different to most people, but I always have trouble understanding why people want to have jobs so much. The obvious and direct answer immediately of course is "to be able to pay the bills". But of course if we automated those jobs with AI, we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. Then the concern is of course, that the owners will not share the…

Has it ever occured to you, presumably, a white collar worker, to "give back" to others less fortunate than you? With your presumably, well-above earnings, does it ever cross your mind to give a recurring stipend to some other people, even though it could make a real difference to someone? Not really? I guess you got your answer.

Has it ever occurred to you that some people don't work in the private sector? Working at a hospital for 20 years is enough public service for me, thanks.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#143

Post by newsicanuse »

pornel wrote: post #116
throw1234567891 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you saying, you want to type? You must be good at typing.

Such dismissive quip is unkind. The job has changed from a craft to operating an unreliable machine. Instead of satisfaction of solving challenging problems with your own skill and creativity, you babysit a text extruder and slog through mistakes in its generated output. Arguably this may make software cheaper to make and accessible to non-programmers, but for people who liked their job it's like being demoted from a…

Cheaper to make plus unreliable and difficult to maintain. That is lose-lose for everyone involved.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#144

Post by _DeadFred_ »

LilBytes wrote: post #2

Quotes from the article: 'Work as Identity: The Foundation' Knowledge workers hold a different relationship to their labor than manufacturing workers did. For a cognitive professional, expertise is not only an activity. It is a large part of the self. A data scientist who has spent a decade building statistical judgment does not experience that judgment as a detachable tool. It is closer to a personality trait. When…

I like the term AI induced loss of meaning. It covers loss of meaning in work. Loss of meaning in skills. Loss of meaning in art. Loss of meaning in interpersonal communication when you get AI responses back.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#145

Post by harvey9 »

brianleb wrote: post #29
harvey9 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that skilled people who work with their hands don't identify with their work is laughable.

OP did not say anything about skilled workers who make things with their hands. You are describing an artisan or craftsman, or at the very least a tradesman. The quote is talking about manufacturing labor. This is the guy on the assembly line who lowers the press, makes his thousandth widget for a day, and then lifts it up. Rinse and repeat.

I think you have a very narrow conception of even assembly line work.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#146

Post by tomhow »

weregiraffe wrote: post #136
lowbloodsugar wrote: post #68

During Covid, we, the intellectual class, spent our year lamenting, explaining, meme-Ing, about what a change it was. Meanwhile, every day, billions of poorer people got up and went to their jobs as normal. I’m in lockdown and Grace, the grocery store clerk, is going to work just like any other day, just in a mask. We’re up in arms about AI. We’re asking what does a future where AI can do all the work look like. Wher…

[flagged]

Please don't post snarky comments on HN. The guidelines make it clear we're trying for something better here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#147

Post by dosisking »

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #144
LilBytes wrote: post #2

Quotes from the article: 'Work as Identity: The Foundation' Knowledge workers hold a different relationship to their labor than manufacturing workers did. For a cognitive professional, expertise is not only an activity. It is a large part of the self. A data scientist who has spent a decade building statistical judgment does not experience that judgment as a detachable tool. It is closer to a personality trait. When…

I like the term AI induced loss of meaning. It covers loss of meaning in work. Loss of meaning in skills. Loss of meaning in art. Loss of meaning in interpersonal communication when you get AI responses back.

I like the term 'A Pirate Looks at 40'. To me, this is not much different from Jimmy Buffett's song.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#148

Post by ricardobayes »

nubinetwork wrote: post #142
ricardobayes wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has it ever occured to you, presumably, a white collar worker, to "give back" to others less fortunate than you? With your presumably, well-above earnings, does it ever cross your mind to give a recurring stipend to some other people, even though it could make a real difference to someone? Not really? I guess you got your answer.

Has it ever occurred to you that some people don't work in the private sector? Working at a hospital for 20 years is enough public service for me, thanks.

Of course, but the comment is not aimed at you, I'm even a little surprised you read it that way. What I tried to point out, is billionaires and CEOs, are still people, and mindset change regarding universal basic income is likely not going to be top-down. I see people (hoping?) that wealthy people eventually start disbursing money out of the blue, but is that really going to happen realistically?

Perhaps in some societies, like France, where profit sharing is more culturally common.

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#149

Post by ornornor »

watwut wrote: post #104
sudosteph wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and this is something that is routinely overlooked. Work identities run deep, and they are not easily changed. Andrew Yang actually made a strong point when he was talking about automation-driven job losses way back in 2019. He said you can offer the best and most expensive retraining programs imaginable to help people displaced from their jobs move to fields like healthcare - but most truck drivers, even if out…

Truck driver to nurse is special kind of issue, because nursing is feminine coded occupation and trucking attracts men who want to prove own masculinity. But they will take jobs that are not that much feminine. And nursing also require a lot more study then people assume, 40 years old trucker will have hard time spending that much time in school even if it was his lifelong dream.

> nursing is feminine coded occupation and trucking attracts men who want to prove own masculinity

In your head maybe?

Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers

#150

Post by HeartStrings »

This will only get worse and expand to other industries.

With no jobs left, most people will probably sign up for military (need bodies when run out of robots+EMT weapons+kessler syndrom yadayada) or/and start organizing massive revolutions in areas most affected (if they got the guts).

If not this, the other path leads to starvation, mesninglessness, getting permamogged my tech elite shareholders and eventual DEATH and end of your bloodline (no money = no family). And now tell me, is life like that worth living?

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