The whole “guiding hand” of our government is done through the lense of job creation. Tax incentives. Protectionist trade policies. War. IP law. It all imperfectly comes down to job creation, because jobs are fucking important and necessary. Beware people who now come along and say “oh jobs aren’t that great” because they are warming you to accept a certain reality. That is to say, this essay is not just complete rubbish, it is dangerous rubbish.
Thoughts on AI and Jobs
21–30 of 58 posts
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#22Any technology that reduces the need for jobs should be celebrated, in my view. Sounds like someone who is gainfully employed. Try the alternative for a while and let us know how it goes. Reality has a persistent ability to clarify your thinking.
You did not grasp the thesis in the post.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#23There's so much wrong with this post.
Yes, LLMs are useful when used ethically. But when it's controlled by greedy and corrupt people, it's going to be used as a weapon to further widen the class divide between the wealthy and poor. The main reason why it has received so much investment is because greedy CEOs dream of AI as being the ultimate people replacer. All of them are short-sighted individuals only concerned with quick wins on the stock market and do not give any thought to what that would do to regular folks. If no one has a job due to AI who will buy their products and services?
The parasitic nature of LLMs takes the work of people and regurgitates an output without compensating the original creators. Without an incentive (i.e., paycheck) for people to work (e.g., code, write articles, answer forum questions, etc.), how will LLM technology continue to thrive in the future? LLMs cannot solve novel problems. That is a unique human ability that AI cannot replace now.
Yes, LLM tech should be celebrated. But when wielded and overhyped by greedy people there are good reasons to be skeptical 'AI Denialists.'
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#24Any technology that reduces the need for jobs should be celebrated, in my view. Sounds like someone who is gainfully employed. Try the alternative for a while and let us know how it goes. Reality has a persistent ability to clarify your thinking.
You did not grasp the thesis in the post.
AI good, jobs bad?
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#25Like every single productivity improvement before it, the bulk of the gains of AI will be piled into land rents, which then gets diffused into the cost of everything that happens upon land (which is everything). Then we'll just remark "wow, we still need to keep working because the cost of living has really gone up!" and somehow not realize that the only thing in our economy where its inputs have not increased in pri…
I'm not so convinced on the land rent thesis.
Fewer jobs, less money --> people less willing to pay for anything more than bare minimum --> downward pressure where being cheap is the biggest selling point.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#26This blog post offers no new insights.
Let's imagine that half of the jobs or more are lost. It would create a shock for the economy as a whole, incomparable with anything that happened before.
It's a snake eating its own tail paradox. It means massive bankruptcies across all sectors and some governments defaulting on their debts. We can forget about UBI in these circumstances. Yes, OpenAI and Anthropic will pay more taxes but the economy as a whole will be uprooted.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#27> I have sympathy for people worried about losing their livelihoods. But at the same time I struggle to sympathise with the idea that jobs themselves are something sacred we should be fighting for. I can agree with the author's point, but they seem oblivious to the fact that people lamenting the loss of their job is usually the politically correct way for them to lament the loss of their paycheck.
I understand that, and that's what I was trying to get at with the post. That an AI future which can take away jobs, doesn't have to be a bad one if the paycheck is replaced with something else. The Rutger Bergman piece I linked to argues for Universal Basic Income. Many people assume jobs are the only way.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#28all this talk of "protecting people's jobs"
no, we need to get rid of as many jobs as possible. whats missing is talk of a universal basic income. AI is going to get rid of a lot of jobs but people still need to eat and have a place to live. its really created a need for us to explore a system beyond the lessai fair capitalism the US has been creating over the years. tax AI and use it for building subsidized housing and food. made education free so that we can learn skills AI can't do.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#29> I have sympathy for people worried about losing their livelihoods. But at the same time I struggle to sympathise with the idea that jobs themselves are something sacred we should be fighting for. I can agree with the author's point, but they seem oblivious to the fact that people lamenting the loss of their job is usually the politically correct way for them to lament the loss of their paycheck.
I understand that, and that's what I was trying to get at with the post. That an AI future which can take away jobs, doesn't have to be a bad one if the paycheck is replaced with something else. The Rutger Bergman piece I linked to argues for Universal Basic Income. Many people assume jobs are the only way.
No one is confused by this, though. “Work sucks” might be the most universally agreed to statement. It seems like you take talk of jobs too literally when most of the time people are excited not to starve, not excited to have their job.
Re: Thoughts on AI and Jobs
#30There's so much wrong with this post. Yes, LLMs are useful when used ethically. But when it's controlled by greedy and corrupt people, it's going to be used as a weapon to further widen the class divide between the wealthy and poor. The main reason why it has received so much investment is because greedy CEOs dream of AI as being the ultimate people replacer. All of them are short-sighted individuals only concerned w…
> Without an incentive (i.e., paycheck) for people to work (e.g., code, write articles, answer forum questions, etc.)
Many people do all those things in their spare time, unpaid, because they genuinely enjoy it. Let's not conflate work with a job. https://seths.blog/2026/05/doing-your-job-vs-doing-your-work...