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Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

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Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

#1
This is a question that I feel comes up a lot, and it's not often engaged with seriously. I feel sci-fi doesn't really engage with the concept (you'll get super smart AI, but somehow humans still just have plenty of jobs). Technologists frequently respond that we are very far away from being able to automate all jobs, but this assumption ignores the possibility that we do automate everything -- and also, AI continues to advance faster than even AI researchers predict.

In the past I used to think that with all jobs automated, we would just all devote ourselves to higher pursuits like art, science, math, etc. However, now I think this claim didn't give AI enough credibility -- it's totally within the realm of possibility, and even near future possibility, that AI easily exceeds human performance in art, science, math -- all the things we generally think of as uniquely human and morally valuable pursuits. Recent LLM progress should make this point very clear to everyone.

So. Since I don't see this idea being taken too seriously in society, I thought we on HN could take a stab at thinking through the possibility.

For example, here is one possible outcome I can envision. Pre agricultural revolution, all humans were hunter gatherers who simply did not have to work that hard (I think estimates I've read said that people spent maybe 15 hours a week hunting/gathering). In this time, as far as I understand, people's lives largely revolved around things like their local community, relationship with others, culture, and leisure (I am not an anthropologist or historian, so I may be totally correct here). Is it possible our lives become more like this? Without jobs to do, without the ability to, say, make meaningful advances to science, with governmental decision making being better handled by AI...do we spend our time building and forming meaningful relationships and communities with others?

Would love your thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

#2
I always tell people - when talking about unemployment rate - that our target rate should be 100%. Many of the things I do for work I would happily do for free - and sometimes do.

Labor as a choice is a great outcome. You're not a woodworker because someone needs to be - but because you love it. So: if there is no work to do, it doesn't mean that work wouldn't be done, it just changes the motivation to do it.

Re: Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

#6
There is no “everything is automated”.

“Everything is automated” is similar to “finished software”. It just doesn’t happen.

Besides that there are many services you want to purchase where interaction with the other is part of the value of said service.

Think of going to a barber or a nice restaurant. Think about education, designers. There is also artisanal products. People pay a pretty penny for a teapot made by a master ceramist even though perfect products are made in much more automated ways.

I’m pretty hopeful about people having to work less. Maybe even about most people not having to work at all. But being able to afford luxuries like having a master chef cook your dinner from time to time is likely to require you do to some paid work and I think there will be plenty of work left for us humans.

Re: Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

#8
If we are headed towards a post-labor society (which I doubt, but that’s a different topic), the first thing we need to do is radically reconsider how our society thinks about property and wealth. Otherwise, we’ll have a small class of property holding aristocrats and everyone else is screwed.

Re: Ask HN: What will everyone do if everything is automated?

#10
post #8

If we are headed towards a post-labor society (which I doubt, but that’s a different topic), the first thing we need to do is radically reconsider how our society thinks about property and wealth. Otherwise, we’ll have a small class of property holding aristocrats and everyone else is screwed.

I generally agree, but want to add that we aren't that far off from your last sentence.
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