tl;dr - knowing things is no longer competitive in the job market. Only doing things is competitive.
Which means at least 50% of the university degrees are no longer competitive, since the focus in those studies is just on the knowledge side.
What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
251–260 of 418 posts
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
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. Sligh…
-Besides, in some jurisdictions, the taxman thought of that.
If a Norwegian tradesman works on his own home, he's supposed to pay VAT on the value of the work he's done - not only on the materials used.
I suspect such work is being under-reported, though.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
The parent comment is describing supply and demand. If Blizzard attracts a larger supply of workers who will accept lower pay and worse conditions because they intrinsically want the job, Blizzard gains leverage. That is exactly why studios like Blizzard can get away with more than “NicheBoringFinanceCo.”
If an “industry’s labour [is] supplied only by those inherently passionate about it” the post says it would “crush wages and working conditions”. That runs completely counter to the basics of supply and demand in a perfect competition market. It would be market with far fewer (labor) suppliers, who could therefore command a higher wage, not lower.
The only way the people who are only in it for the money leave the industry is if the money gets worse. If the money stays the same why would they leave
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#254Earlier 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.
> Taxes on unrealized capital gains would be a start
A start to what? There is no way of taxing unrealised capital gains that makes sense. You're taxing theoretical value that may or may not actually exist. Rebates (e.g. you're taxed on theoretical current value, but when you realise the actual gain, you get back the difference if there is any) just moves the problem around, makes everything complicated, and penalises attempting growth.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if people assume the worst impacts of LLMs on white collar work, there is simply not enough demand for electricians and plumbers for that to work, right now these professions work only because the number of people going into them is limited.
You sound like you're not a home owner. In populated areas it could take a week to get a electrician or plumber out. And contractors are hard to find.
Six weeks here (wealthy part of the UK).
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Context was getting income. You don't get income, by avoiding paying more. So it is about black market jobs. Works until something happens. Disputes, accidents, .. you cannot go to the police or courts to demand money from an inoffical job.
You don’t get more income, but you do get more disposable income.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#257The "go into trades" thing has two major flaws: 1) The supply of work will skyrocket when everyone will flock there for work 2) Demand will plummet as the white collar people who bought these services will loose their jobs and income And of course if robotics will get solved to an acceptable degree most of those jobs will also get mostly automated.
I am just absolutely flabbergasted that people seem to ignore your first point so consistently on this site.
Then again, these were the people who ten years ago were constantly bleating that Software was invincible and that flooding that market with a million bootcamp idiots wouldn’t eventually saturate that market.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hasn't the US already minimised the cost of all the construction work that are "the parts that don't require discernment" to minimum wage who-cares-if-they're-documented-or-not day workers?
Seems the answer is no, the average wage is about $25/hr depending on region.
Cool, I can make that working at Walmart many places nowadays.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lets take the example of Uber. If Uber ships 10x the code and features, I will still not 2x my rides. Even if Uber makes the cost of travel to 0, I will still not 2x my rides.
Uber needs to prove that they are growing though to validate their stock value, one of the tricks used to be increasing headcount to show growth. But other tricks include new ventures, essentially public companies and VC companies have an almost unlimited appetite for new ventures, as that is how they keep validating their future growth and stock prices. Currently financial realities are forcing layoffs, and the AI s…
The end of ZIRP (cheap money) is precisely what ended the new-ventures/new-projects drive among big companies and turned them all to cost-cutting and maintenance mode.
Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes-Anding you, if one developer is suddenly 3x more productive and does 40 hours of work in 15 with AI tools, any reasonable manager would still want the same three people to keep working at 3x productivity. I don’t see Keynes’ theory we would all be working drastically fewer hours per week suddenly materializing due to AI. As always we’re just going to try to output more in the same time. The fact I, a manager, can…
Lets take the example of Uber. If Uber ships 10x the code and features, I will still not 2x my rides. Even if Uber makes the cost of travel to 0, I will still not 2x my rides.
This is a silly easily falsifiable example, though. My Uber usage is approximately zero. If cost was zero my Uber usage would increase.