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What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

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Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#961

Post by tonyedgecombe »

goatlover wrote: post #544
marginalia_nu wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an experiment, completely stop consuming news and social media for a few weeks. People have lived their entire lives without these information streams, you'll survive unplugging a bit. Now I can't tell you what you will experience if you go through with this, but I can promise it's very enlightening.

No thanks. I went too much of life being a low information mostly non-voter. This is how authoritarians win, because too many people don't pay attention, don't protest, don't vote, don't express their disapproval.

Nobody said to stop voting. You could spend the two weeks before polling day educating yourself on the options and you would be much better informed.

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#962

Post by victorbjorklund »

srveale wrote: post #900
victorbjorklund wrote: post #834

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have way higher unemployment among young people in many countries without any revolution. What are they gonna do? Randomly kill people who are ”kulaks” and that will solve their problems how? Are they gonna get to eat if they kill a guy running a saas company?

There have been instances of mass unemployment without mass violence, sure. But are you sure you want to see how it plays out in a country with >1.2 guns per capita?

There is a lot of guns in those countries as well. Americans just like to collect guns. They never ever used them for actually turning against the govt in large scale. MAGA didn’t turn against Biden with guns. Rest of country isn’t turning against Trump with guns now.

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#963

Post by gitaarik »

celsoazevedo wrote: post #188
echelon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never been happier. I flipping love AI. This is literally what I dreamed about as a kid. I feel like we might get to witness the singularity, and that's exciting. To live and die under cellphone incrementalism is what's depressing. I hated where we were. I love where we're going.

You seem to ignore all negative aspects of AI, so it's not a surprise that you're happy and excited. It's the other side of the coin of "AI is bad and brings no benefits", usually the result of ignoring any positives. I've used AI/LLMs to create tools for myself, which otherwise would have not been created. That's good. But I also know people that are terrible at detecting AI content... it's only a matter of time unt…

Just like a sharp knife you mean?

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#964

Post by gitaarik »

david927 wrote: post #44
zitterbewegung wrote: post #29

When have people in Tech been happy? (Serious question).

The 1990's

Indeed, the economy was still healthy, and it was the time of waiting for your code to compile and talk nonsense with your colleagues and the management would think you're the best.

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#966

Post by palmotea »

rayiner wrote: post #750
chongli wrote: post #742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is the GGP post (by Animats) trivializing the risk? They're saying "it's a survival issue" and saying the printers became homeless and struggling to feed themselves. Sounds much more like a warning than a dismissal to me. If 40-50% of the workforce ends up like that then we're living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland failed state.

> If 40-50% of the workforce ends up like that then we're living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland failed state. I a lot less than that. Most people don’t have jobs that can be done remotely, which I think is a good proxy for the ceiling of who can be replaced by AI. Almost nobody on my block besides me is going to be replaced (beer brewer, several nurses, navy servicemen, cops, and teachers).

> I a lot less than that. Most people don’t have jobs that can be done remotely, which I think is a good proxy for the ceiling of who can be replaced by AI. Almost nobody on my block besides me is going to be replaced (beer brewer, several nurses, navy servicemen, cops, and teachers).

That's just first order effects. What's going to happen to the beer brewer when sales are down because the knowledge workers have cut back, and what will happen to those nurses when a lot of those knowledge workers lose their health insurance?

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#967

Post by flaburgan »

amoe_ wrote: post #887
flaburgan wrote: post #762

I don't understand those articles, especially, I don't see why AI changed anything. At least for me, the important quest isn't how you build, but what you build. If your product is meaningless, useful only to the company because what it does is futile, then the emptiness you feel is not coming from the fact that AI is "stealing your job". Don't quit to a farm with goats, find a way to distribute food which would have…

But for a large proportion of people, "what they build" is meaningless (in social terms). Doing as you suggest would eliminate the majority of work.

Well then we would have more time to make art, play music, enjoy time with friends... Being fulfilled. I don't see work as a goal, just a way to accomplish something in our current society, but I would be perfectly fine in a society with no jobs the way we see them at the moment. I just spent my Saturday to take care of my grandmother. I was not paid for that, it isn't my job. But I for sure created more "value" than a day in the office.

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#968

Post by flaburgan »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #928
flaburgan wrote: post #762

I don't understand those articles, especially, I don't see why AI changed anything. At least for me, the important quest isn't how you build, but what you build. If your product is meaningless, useful only to the company because what it does is futile, then the emptiness you feel is not coming from the fact that AI is "stealing your job". Don't quit to a farm with goats, find a way to distribute food which would have…

> I don't see why AI changed anything. Impacting millions of jobs under the illusion that it can change something, maybe, kind of, one day, is still changing a lot for people. Those who don't understand this haven't been impacted by a layoff (yet).

It for sure is changing a lot in term of revenue etc., my "AI did not change anything" was about people suddenly feeling empty about what they do at work. If they were doing something that was fulfilling them, then the fact that they are now doing it with AI should not change anything regarding their motivation to accomplish that task. Of course if they get fired that has a big impact, but that is unrelated to how they feel about their job.

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#969

Post by jstrebel »

I haven't lost faith in my career and I've been an IT specialist all my life. AI will elevate my game to a new level. I see zero evidence that it will make me redundant in any way. I guess the role of IT will shift - specialized tech companies are less important, while business use of IT will thrive. (Yes, the code-monkey style of work will disappear, but nobody is going to miss this anyway, I hope)

Re: What happens if an entire class of workers loses faith in their careers

#970

Post by tonyedgecombe »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #806
miyoji wrote: post #780

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commutes are uncompensated labor, so you're advocating for a pay decrease for both yourself and your coworkers. Pay me for my commute and I'll gladly work from wherever you like, just recognize that I would get more done if you weren't paying me to travel to and from work. If you don't pay me for the time I spend commuting, you aren't interested in paying the total cost of employing me and you can kindly go fuck off.

Commutes can also be forced meditation, exercise, and exposure to sunlight and fresh air. If you don't naturally prioritize those things, the impact of missing them will sneak up on you.

But they mostly aren't.
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