AI EPQ Question

[48T7M4Gy]

https://www.edge.org/videos/
Numerous speakers on AI

[dhayden]

Should we aim to develop systems that can replace people as manual labourers?

We've been doing that for centuries already. I believe that 40% of the American population used to work in agriculture and it's now something like 4%. The change is due ot mechanization that replaced workers. A "calculator" used to be a job description. It was a person who did calculations manually. That's been replaced by computers. Most offices used to have typing pools - a room full of people who typed up stuff. Those have all been replaced by word processors. Very few companies have telephone receptionists anymore. Those were the people who'd answer the phone when you called the main number, say "Thank you for calling ABC company, how may I direct your call?" Those have all been replaced by automated systems.

This was mostly fine when machines replaced tedious tasks and allowed people to work on other tasks, perhaps not so tedious. The problem is that the machines are getting better and better and are making some people unemployable, or at least pushing the value of their work down so low that they can't earn a livable wage. It's very difficult to make a living with just a high school diploma these days. 50 years ago it was easy.

[helios]

It's very difficult to make a living with just a high school diploma these days. 50 years ago it was easy.

I don't agree that this is primarily caused by automation. I think the primary causes are social and purely artificial (if accidental), rather than it being the result of the economics associated with the decreased value of the work performed by a person with a given level of education. I contend that a) most jobs don't require highly educated workers and that b) even highly educated but inexperienced workers don't perform much better than less educated and equally inexperienced workers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credentialism_and_educational_inflation

[48T7M4Gy]

There probably isn't much to be gleaned from comparing education levels to income when statistics show that income levels have stayed fairly static while education levels have increased dramatically. Sadly this translates to people being overqualified in many jobs. As one judge was overheard to whisper to a colleague at a prestigious universities graduation ceremony "there go some of the most highly qualified cab drivers in the state".

The largely mythological tale about hs diplomas is more a result of anxious middle class parents and greedy educators than any form of AI intrusion.

Most people are comfortable with a meal ticket from a university and a comfortable income to shelter them from the shock that detailing cars can bring in 4 times as much and no stress.

I wouldn't rate the average rubbish presented as 'automatic call answering systems' as the epitome of AI. They're not even remotely good interface design and that's why sensible companies offshore to a call centre. AI is a gross misnomer here. It's neither artificial nor intelligent - it's real dumb generally.

More people will be displaced by secondary school renewable energy skills requirements not being met than a bag of transistors intruding in the future.