I’ve been critiquing what I’ve called
AI Inevitability Soothsaying[1] and this seems related:
> > Not all articles in this AI category are outright positive. They range from the euphoric to the slightly depressed. But they share the same premise of inevitability; even the most negative will say that, of course I use AI, I’m not some Luddite[3]! It is integral to my work now. But I don’t just let it run the whole game. I copy–paste with judicious care. blah blah blah
This looks very similar.
Because what is happening? People are getting laid off. Because of AI. They say. There are many doubters here on this board at least. But what is the first premise of Inevitability? In my book it is to take AI as a given, as the unstoppable force; don’t necessarily praise AI, in fact you can write as if it is hitting us like a merciless meteor. But you have to use that as the premise.
Next find a topic to write about. (It’s really about AI but you need a topic that is about the “externalities”.) Well here you have Reddit Comments. Which you seem to imply to have similar thoughts about as me; Reddit posts can be astroturfed to all hell for all you know. Certainly now that they can hide their comment history.
So, Depression. How human. How thoughtful. What a soft subject. What a Trojan Horse? That someone cares about this Definitely a Thing? Like here[2]:
> > If you're an engineer who uses AI daily - for design reviews, code generation, debugging, documentation, architecture decisions - and you've noticed that you're somehow more tired than before AI existed, this post is for you. You're not imagining it. You're not weak. You're experiencing something real that the industry is aggressively pretending doesn't exist. And if someone who builds agent infrastructure full-time can burn out on AI, it can happen to anyone.
It is very real and we feel your emotions. Right. The meteor has struck us all.
So what’s the point of Inevitabilism? (This is all speculation anyway.) Fear is certainly a factor. Because only investors need to feel good about AI. Workers need discipline more than positivism.[3]
But does that mean this is false? Of course not. But how much of this Shared Depression is because of Interesting Pieces like this one? Just think. You can ruminate yourself into a state of depression (at least lower-d) without anyone giving you even one bad “performance review”.
> > 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 automation threatens the work, it reaches past the income and touches the identity.'
No, it’s a fucking paycheck my guy.
To the extent that it’s an identity though. Uh what? Never met a pre-computer, non-office worker male put into disability or retirement? A homemaker with no one to care for?
Really you went to Reddit and concluded that only office workers have an identity? Eat shit, TFA.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46935607
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46936012
[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48352526