tl;dr - knowing things is no longer competitive in the job market.
Only doing things is competitive.
What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
231–240 of 418 posts
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#232So a lot of people might lose their jobs because of AI, right? But the same amount of economic output, probably more, will be produced because of AI. By whom will that output then be consumed? If people don't have jobs they don't have money to buy and therefore ... prices will have to come down! Society as a whole will be better off because there is more output, better quality output. Then it's for us to vote in a go…
The problem is not type of government but rather the type of economic system people in the west especially in the US have been brainwashed into conflating democracy with capitalism. Europe was able to keep some socialist values for a few decades after world war 2 but capitalists were able to wipe a lot of in the last 20-30 years.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lowering the cost of travel to 0 would mean implementing a technology by which anyone can simply desire to be somewhere else, and they will instantly teleport to that new location. returnInfinity is simply lying about not doing double (or more!) the amount of travel in that case.
I’m sure that he/she would ride a lot more if it cost nothing, but I think the point is valid: even if Uber could 10x or 100x productivity, they could not do the same with income, because there is a limit to how much people actually need to go places.
That’s true but fully autonomous driving alone might double my car travel. Going into the nearest major city is a pain. So is driving into the mountains. Operating costs and time are still costs. But not having to drive would really change the game for me.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because in modern society we equate toil with morality we will toil on ever more meaningless crap tasks for food coupons for food that costs nothing to produce but is withheld through artificial scarcity to ensure meaningless toil occupies our existence because of a philosophy from the 1700’s.
I look forward to seeing your company actually producing and selling food for “next to nothing”, given how easy it apparently is
Turns out, plants have been growing all by themselves for millions of years. Lmao.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree completely, but you forget that another option is that the powerful will use these tools to make us suffer and we will be powerless to stop them.
Well, we could vote. In some parts of the world, at least.
You would vote. Everyone else would vote for "their party" regardless of policy cause tribalism. Plus politics always follows the same old pattern "AI took your jobs? We generate food etc so cheaply now it may as well be free? Our robots could be building human shelters for free? Those are _small_ problems, if I get in I'll stop those dirty immigrants coming in! I'll make it so that men act like men and women act like women and they both use the correct bathroom! I'll get rid of the gays, too!"
And it's not even just the right leaning that are tricked. The left get thrown a bone now & then on some trivial thing like getting gay marriage (which shouldn't have even been an argument, more of a realisation) meanwhile nothing is done about corporate tax evasion, improving labour laws etc - or they lean too far into their voterbase and allow rampant immigration, welfare handouts without checks & balances etc.
And all of this because managing a large group of human is pretty much impossible. We need to reorganise into smaller groups.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
Progressive taxes hit wage earners, while its the owners who will reap the benefits of AI. We won't get a share of the fruits without solving how to properly tax wealth(in a world where money is power, and its trivial for rich people to move to a different tax regime), which unfortunately seems tabu in large parts of the western world.
That's true, although "progressive taxes" can be construed more broadly. Taxes on unrealized capital gains would be a start.
Great, i don'trust the government with my pension retirement. Put all my life savings(that i already paid taxes on) on an investment portfolio. Now the government wants a cut on my unrealized gains as well. Do you realize each time the money changes hands it gets taxed? Do you trust the gov to be as effective and as efficent with that money att all?
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#237Summary of article: in an uncertain job market, some young people are going into blue collar trades. Others are starting startups. Others are powering through. Journalist says some words about "AI" being the cause of all this uncertainty.
Not sure how it works in the US, but in some parts of Europe, blue collar trades are currently much better, for several reasons: - Price of housing and associated maintenance keeps rising, and so do small jobs like fixing plumbing, gardening, etc; - You can easily avoid paying VAT if you know how to, so that's a 20% increase, or even more, if you can benefit from social services (e.g. since you don't earn a lot, you…
Yea, at least over here in Finland many university degree programmers are hardly worth it, even though there are no tuition fees. A plumber or electrician can easily earn more than a researcher with PhD, with much shorter studies, better job security and more options for starting a business.
I know lots of people with master's degrees who have started studying something practical after graduation, as they were unable to find any job with their degree. Of course the general economic situation (highest unemployment in the EU) is having an impact on everyone, but it's hitting those with higher education particularly badly this time.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
"You can easily avoid paying VAT if you know how to" Interesting. Would you care to enlighten us on a legal way to do this ?
You don't have to pay VAT on things you fix for yourself, because you don't pay yourself at all. This is in fact a kind of (legal) tax avoidance, but not (illegal) tax evasion. Given the cost of housing, being able to build your own house or even just doing small fixes here and there, leads to a big increase in perceived income. The tradies I know can afford whatever kind of car they want, whatever kind of holiday ex…
> You don't have to pay VAT on things you fix for yourself, because you don't pay yourself at all.
Just to be clear, if you're a VAT-registered tradie doing a job for yourself, you are obligated to pay VAT for the materials. Diverting vat-reclaimed materials for self-supply is tax evasion (which can be identified by auditing invoices). So legally speaking, the only money saved is the VAT on your own work hours.
Slightly ironically, self-supply is much easier and almost impossible to identify when devs use work-paid subscription services (e.g. Claude Max) on personal side hustles.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What should kids be aiming for according to you? Computer Scientist? Biologist? Finance? Construction? Can you sit down with an unfamiliar domain and develop enough genuine curiosity to get good at it, without a syllabus or a credential dangling in front of you? The kids who'll do well in a world where the field-to-security mapping keeps shifting are the ones who can self-direct — not the ones who picked the right…
> full disclosure I'm short humans and very long paperclips. What does that mean in practice? Are there specific stock market bets you've made because of that world view?
It can be read in two different ways. Massive techno-optimism, or massive techno-pessimism but facing a reality where humans are increasingly less valuable.
In the first case, buy AI stocks. In the second case, build a bunker in the wilderness.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
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