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Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

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Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#4

[flagged]

There are a lot of differences in what is allowed in a post-secondary education setting that are the diametric opposite in the working world.

You are in an education setting to learn HOW things work and how to think critically. In the workplace, you are doing work w/whatever tools you have at your disposal to get it done fast and well.

You aren't supposed to use a search engine or a reference manual to find the answers to a problem on a test, but how many of us relied on those for our day-to-day work?

While I understand what you're trying to say here, they're just not comparable scenarios.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#5
I’m genuinely confused as to why the speakers are baffled by the boos.

Everyone, and especially new grads constantly hear that AI is going to replace every job. And absolutely no one seems to be interested in answering the question of “okay, then what?”

Of course people are going to react negatively when they hear, “the machines are going to take your jobs from you. No, we don’t care how you’ll be able to pay your rent or put food on the table”.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#6
There is nothing about AI that seems like it's going to have a net positive for humanity. Faster code? Sure. Better chatbots? Sure. Textual analysis? Sure. But the downside, and it's huge, is massive unemployment and societal collapse. Nothing AI brings to the table is worth having an unemployment rate of 25% (or more).

Our society is simply not ready for this. We need to rework things from the ground up, not proceed blindly (which is what we're currently doing), if we want to successfully integrate AI into our lives without massive pain.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#7

I’m genuinely confused as to why the speakers are baffled by the boos. Everyone, and especially new grads constantly hear that AI is going to replace every job. And absolutely no one seems to be interested in answering the question of “okay, then what?” Of course people are going to react negatively when they hear, “the machines are going to take your jobs from you. No, we don’t care how you’ll be able to pay your re…

The executive class is out of touch with normal society.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#8

I’m genuinely confused as to why the speakers are baffled by the boos. Everyone, and especially new grads constantly hear that AI is going to replace every job. And absolutely no one seems to be interested in answering the question of “okay, then what?” Of course people are going to react negatively when they hear, “the machines are going to take your jobs from you. No, we don’t care how you’ll be able to pay your re…

They're baffled maybe because they stand to benefit, whereas most of the audience won't.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#9

College students are cooked for entry level work. I'm guessing there will soon be a government mandate requiring some percentage of NCGs to be hired, similar to India and other countries with huge cohorts.

Yep. I was looking for jobs the other day (because the market as a whole is kinda cooked), and one fairly small company had a half-dozen openings for Staff level engineers, and nothing else. If I'm having this much trouble with staff level experience, I can't imagine how new grads are doing.

Re: Graduates are booing pep talks on AI at college commencements

#10
Those kids are crazy. We're finally close to realizing the dream of making labor obsolete, how could they not be excited and enthusiastic about the future? Most of them will no longer needed, and thankfully those that are still needed can be paid more reasonable wages (i.e. lower ones).

It's a win-win for everyone. The lower prices enabled by automation allow them to stretch their savings or inheritance further before its exhausted.

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