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This content is for human consumption only

orbistertius.substack.com

41–50 of 54 posts

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#41
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just plain extremely unsympathetic to the entitled, rent-seeking view of the world that a bunch of white-collar workers turn out to have: "help someone is going to automate my job and other jobs might be harder". Like...I am a white collar worker, but god damn I cannot think of a more pathetic complaint.

> help someone is going to automate my job and other jobs might be harder More like “help, someone is going to automate my job and there won’t be jobs for everyone” In a hypothetical scenario where 30% of the current workforce is decimated by AI (white collar jobs), what makes you think the demand for plumbers, aircon unit installers or fruit pickers is goong to go up and absorb all those lost jobs?

But what if instead of laying people off - you can expand the project's scope instead? In my country's gamedev community "GTA in our country" is a meme, because we don't have enough funding and manpower to make a GTA-sized game. But with AI assistance it could be feasible. And big companies like Rockstar, instead of laying people off, could make something truly massive.

The same with movies. We can't make anything like James Cameron's movies. But with AI we could.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#42
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> help someone is going to automate my job and other jobs might be harder More like “help, someone is going to automate my job and there won’t be jobs for everyone” In a hypothetical scenario where 30% of the current workforce is decimated by AI (white collar jobs), what makes you think the demand for plumbers, aircon unit installers or fruit pickers is goong to go up and absorb all those lost jobs?

But what if instead of laying people off - you can expand the project's scope instead? In my country's gamedev community "GTA in our country" is a meme, because we don't have enough funding and manpower to make a GTA-sized game. But with AI assistance it could be feasible. And big companies like Rockstar, instead of laying people off, could make something truly massive. The same with movies. We can't make anything li…

YES this is absolutely the answer. We can now do very cool and worthwhile things that simply were out of reach before.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#43

> This is the worst imaginable end-stage capitalism dystopia, in which the only ways to make money are the grueling physical jobs like nursing and commercial kitchens (if you work in a field like that, you have my deepest respect). Having worked a physical job on a scaffold 13 stories in the air while wearing a respirator on a sweltering summer day and grinding out mortar joints, I can’t help but feel that this would…

[dead]

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#44
post #8

> This is the worst imaginable end-stage capitalism dystopia, in which the only ways to make money are the grueling physical jobs like nursing and commercial kitchens (if you work in a field like that, you have my deepest respect). Having worked a physical job on a scaffold 13 stories in the air while wearing a respirator on a sweltering summer day and grinding out mortar joints, I can’t help but feel that this would…

I'm just plain extremely unsympathetic to the entitled, rent-seeking view of the world that a bunch of white-collar workers turn out to have: "help someone is going to automate my job and other jobs might be harder". Like...I am a white collar worker, but god damn I cannot think of a more pathetic complaint.

I view it differently. Some people are not cut out for manual labor, lots of white collar work is intellectually stimulating in a way blue collar work isn’t, and a deluge of white collar workers competing for blue collar jobs will drive down wages.

End goal should be trying to give the next generation a better “cushy” life than the last. If harder work for less pay is what lies in the future then the future isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#45
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> help someone is going to automate my job and other jobs might be harder More like “help, someone is going to automate my job and there won’t be jobs for everyone” In a hypothetical scenario where 30% of the current workforce is decimated by AI (white collar jobs), what makes you think the demand for plumbers, aircon unit installers or fruit pickers is goong to go up and absorb all those lost jobs?

But what if instead of laying people off - you can expand the project's scope instead? In my country's gamedev community "GTA in our country" is a meme, because we don't have enough funding and manpower to make a GTA-sized game. But with AI assistance it could be feasible. And big companies like Rockstar, instead of laying people off, could make something truly massive. The same with movies. We can't make anything li…

Counterpoint, companies do what they’ve always done and do more with less because big companies are run by MBAs, not idealists, and startups are difficult to bootstrap and manage.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#46
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there was nothing to create and machines did everything for you, what would you actually do ?

Find a hobby like everyone else. People tend gardens, even though they are just inefficiently ran agricultural setups. People play chess even though nearly all of them won't be able to beat the best AI. People will still draw for the enjoyment of the act of drawing. People will still write/type/voice their thoughts onto some medium. People will be with friends and family. Hell, I'd be happy just being left to ruminat…

[deleted]

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#47
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what if instead of laying people off - you can expand the project's scope instead? In my country's gamedev community "GTA in our country" is a meme, because we don't have enough funding and manpower to make a GTA-sized game. But with AI assistance it could be feasible. And big companies like Rockstar, instead of laying people off, could make something truly massive. The same with movies. We can't make anything li…

Counterpoint, companies do what they’ve always done and do more with less because big companies are run by MBAs, not idealists, and startups are difficult to bootstrap and manage.

Big companies have to compete with other big companies. What if you lay off your employees in order to make a product with a similar scope as before, but your competitor hires more people and expands the scope of their project significantly?

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Writer/Artist/Dev: “I think publishing this work will improve the world in some way. I’ll put it out there on the public internet for all the world to see for free.” Surely you must know this is a bullshit argument right? Almost everyone that publishes their work publicly on the internet publishes it under a particular license. Yes, there are some that decide to publish under the equivalent of the public domain or…

>Yes, there are some that decide to publish under the equivalent of the public domain or a CC0 license, but the vast majority of writing, art and code is licensed under specific conditions and for the most part they retain the full rights to the work. Perhaps we need a licence that precludes use for training AI's. I don't know how you could enforce that though.

Any AI that is deployed in a way where it makes money (including from ads) becomes a tool of commercial use, and there are lots of currently-used licences that deal with commercial use.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#49
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint, companies do what they’ve always done and do more with less because big companies are run by MBAs, not idealists, and startups are difficult to bootstrap and manage.

Big companies have to compete with other big companies. What if you lay off your employees in order to make a product with a similar scope as before, but your competitor hires more people and expands the scope of their project significantly?

Considering all the big companies laying people off recently, even those with enough capital to retain them, they don’t seem very concerned about that possibility. For what it’s worth I hope you’re right.

Re: This content is for human consumption only

#50

> like DALL-E, it seems more likely that writers, artists, and programmers are the most vulnerable to displacement. Programmer here. I'm don't feel vulnerable to displacement by AI tools. And if I'm displaced, perhaps my skills were not as meaningful as I thought they were.

> And if I'm displaced, perhaps my skills were not as meaningful as I thought they were.

If "things that AIs can't do" defines the scope of meaningful skills for humans to have, that scope is going to shrink rapidly, and then where does that leave humans?

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