So the lore of capitalism was on point this time -- whenever one market closes, resources (you) are freed to form a new market.
Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
31–40 of 164 posts
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#32I'm a consultant and I've already worked for multiple AI companies that shut down over the last two years. I think the main problem is that they all are relying on the big token providers and trying to capture value with various services.
At some point the token costs will increase so much, it will put all of these AI companies out of business.
Don't get me wrong. AI is definitely useful. The high costs are currently being subsidized by VC and other investors and unless there is a major breakthrough, it's just not going to work in the long-term.
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#33While I'm still catastrophically worried about what AI means for my career, I've noticed that my current employer - very AI forward, and growing the team - is still facing an ever expanding backlog. High productivity is generally good for the employee, unless you're productive enough you run out of work to do. So how much code is needed?
I was also sure to be homeless by now. But despite aggressively trying to automate myself away I'm somehow more busy than ever.
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#34I'm a consultant and I've already worked for multiple AI companies that shut down over the last two years. I think the main problem is that they all are relying on the big token providers and trying to capture value with various services. At some point the token costs will increase so much, it will put all of these AI companies out of business. Don't get me wrong. AI is definitely useful. The high costs are currently…
Not to mention if you make a successful value add the token provider will add it to their own harness and they're not paying the retail price they charge you for the tokens they consume.
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#35If most of the jobs its creating are related to construction of infrastructure then that's not really positive news as these jobs are temporary, once demand settles then why kind of jobs are going to be created? It might be benefiting other areas, but I think as the technology improves a lot of those are going to start looking like what's happening in software development (which is arguably what the technology is bes…
Everything is temporary, especially jobs.
insightful
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#36I'm a consultant and I've already worked for multiple AI companies that shut down over the last two years. I think the main problem is that they all are relying on the big token providers and trying to capture value with various services. At some point the token costs will increase so much, it will put all of these AI companies out of business. Don't get me wrong. AI is definitely useful. The high costs are currently…
Why assume token costs will increase as opposed to become commoditized?
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#37I hope this results in a rebalancing of the social and economic power of high-IQ versus average-IQ workers. We will need construction workers and tradespeople to build and maintain these AI data centers. Probably even with robots. But we won’t need as many engineers, lawyers, and other people whose job it is to consume and generate bits. If we tax the proceeds of AI generated productivity sufficiently, this could be…
> If we tax the proceeds of AI generated productivity sufficiently
That's not going to happen.
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#38AI boosters: "look, AI is creating jobs, all of these doomers scaring you with job loses, don't listen to them" also AI boosters: "we are going to build a million robots, and the robots will build factories producing robots, there will be infinite abundance, nobody will need to work anymore"
> there will be infinite abundance
Maybe.
> nobody will need to work anymore
If we define "nobody" as very wealthy people who partake in that abundance while everyone else ... goes away.
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#39I'm a consultant and I've already worked for multiple AI companies that shut down over the last two years. I think the main problem is that they all are relying on the big token providers and trying to capture value with various services. At some point the token costs will increase so much, it will put all of these AI companies out of business. Don't get me wrong. AI is definitely useful. The high costs are currently…
yea this is something I've been wondering about. I'm not too keen on the finance aspect, but I understand that the big players aren't turning a profit. OpenAI is still losing money. I've seen some discussion related to increased token costs. If that continues, isn't dependence on their services a risk?
Re: Initial effects of AI technology on employment look positive
#40Paywalled > On September 4th the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the American economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far above expectations. Good news that ought to be taken with a pinch of salt given how the current administration responds to unfavorable BLS data - > On Friday, August 1, [2025] President Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer from her role as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BL…
Even outside of the current administration, isn't BLS data notorious for being adjusted after the fact, often downwards? Basing reporting on fresh BLS data seems ill-advised.