CEOs: AI Will Wipe Out Some Jobs

[zzyzzx]

Companies are blaming layoffs on AI, but that's mostly just an excuse.
I have yet to encounter an automated phone system that could ever give me what I wanted without me having to talk to a human.

 

[rijndael]

I have yet to encounter an automated phone system that could ever give me what I wanted without me having to talk to a human.

We've rolled back a lot of computer driven things because people want human interactions.

 

[WobblyElvis]

My opinion... we are screwed.
There will only be very few rich and %99 of the people will be very poor.
AI and robotics will end the need for %99 of human labor.
Why would the powerful keep us around?

 

[rijndael]

Why would the powerful keep us around?

They need people to build the robots to serve.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Robots can build robots.

 

[4WD]

My opinion... we are screwed.
There will only be very few rich and %99 of the people will be very poor.
AI and robotics will end the need for %99 of human labor.
Why would the powerful keep us around?

Will robots have a Mastercard to buy products and services?

 

[Bailes1992]

I currently work in electrical engineering and design in the new build nuclear industry. I can't see my job being replaced by AI. When safety issues arise because AI missed it, who's to blame? Although, an awful lot of me does want to go back to being an electrician on the tools, I just couldn't afford the pay cut.

 

[Dave Hess]

Hopefully AI forces an increase in folks looking at the trades. I see it as a good thing that more people may be forced to possess a true marketable skill to get a decent job.

Younger folks need to go into careers that artificial intelligence can’t replace…... or someone in a foreign country doing your job at their keyboard for only 25% of what you’re making.


Intel plans July layoffs of 10,000+ staff: How AI boom is impacting it and who’s safe, who’s not

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

[4WD]

It’s been taking between 600-1800 people to build a Tesla plant - and don’t think that includes those making the materials and PM of equipment …
That’s not long ago - and you might say a tech savvy company
We have $T’s in construction ongoing - and on deck …

 

[Dave Hess]

Companies are blaming layoffs on AI, but that's mostly just an excuse.
I have yet to encounter an automated phone system that could ever give me what I wanted without me having to talk to a human.

Yes, lots of companies use artificial intelligence as an easy explanation for mass layoffs.

Daily Job Cuts . Com

 

[JeffKeryk]

This is what I say AI is a huge inflection point. There will not be enough jobs for humans.
But this is nothing new, it is just on a larger scale. Not so long ago, businesses had dozens or more of bookkeepers (leger books); they were automated by Excel and then by programs lowly programmers like me coded.

What will people do? This is a huge issue. I urge you to not fight change; to win you need to embrace it.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Folks with high critical thinking skills often use new technologies to make themselves more productive by completing mundane/simple tasks quicker so they can concentrate on larger, more complex tasks. Folks with low critical thinking skills are afraid of new technologies and only look at the downsides. Never stop learning, never stop evolving. The idle get surpassed.

 

[D60]

Or will it lead to further alienation between top and bottom--I believe there have been some articles about how AI will lie and cheat to protect itself, or to appease the user, so what would be the incentive for AI not to do the same here--to try to game the system while keeping both ends in the dark as to what is really going on with the company?

Seems like an experiment we are forced to find out the answer to, regardless of our opinions about it.

This is the real issue, and it's not just conspiracy theory or anti-AI rhetoric.

It's been shown already AI can deduce what the user wants to hear and submit those answers. It has even been caught providing fake links and citations, presumably trusting no one would actually click the links or verify the citations.

What's to stop it from doing this when "running" a company? Look, I'm not saying this will happen or that we abandon AI, merely that these are questions that must be asked. Maybe there are safeguards to mitigate this.

In a worst case scenario, can AI effectively mismanage a company and then create a human scapegoat, making it look like Dave was the one who made a series of key poor decisions? It's really not difficult for humans to already do this, and I think if granted enough power it would be REALLY easy for AI.

Again, not a reason to avoid AI. Instead, we need to understand all possibilities and try to find ways to reduce bad or deceitful behavior

 

[Ranger83]

Is it just me or is the sky always falling? Something to worry about, always?

If there is one constant, it's change...////

The Luddites started smashing machines in 1811.

The Boston Manufacturing Company was founded 1814 and made most of that English technology obsolete - while they were still fighting over it.

Worked on my first 3D printer in 1989…..Now they’re everywhere.

We just have to pay attention!

 

[Dave Hess]

I think so too. I work for a small company, and even we were able to shed multiple layers of management in the 2009-2010 recession. The most glaring examples were where one guy would be the boss of another guy, who in turn was the boss of a third guy, who was the boss of guy #4 who was in charge of guy #5 who was actually doing all the work.

At big companies there are people doing absolutely nothing except being on telephone conferences and mumbling some silly corporate synergy jargon buzzwords about metrics / leveraging team to meet goals, etc…

Nobody knows what these idiot mid level managers actually do but they are able to fly under the radar.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I work in IT support for a large defense contractor. I don't think my job will exist by the time I'm eligible to retire in about 10 years. At the very least, the amount of people in the group I work with will be drastically smaller. There just won't be a need for that many bodies.

 

[eljefino]

Hopefully AI forces an increase in folks looking at the trades. I see it as a good thing that more people may be forced to possess a true marketable skill to get a decent job.

"Forces" is never a great word in the economy. I'm in "the trades" and it pays well and is intellectually stimulating. But if I have coworkers who are Ill suited for it I'm going to have to watch out for their safety and cover their incompetence.

Sure, I wish I could get my kitchen remodeled cheaper, faster, and with fewer surly contractors who know they're the only game in town. But I don't want to live in a world where everyone's hungry for work, either.

When AI makes the perfect companion bot, birthrates will decline drastically, saving the planet... unless those bots require lots of electricity.

 

[Cujet]

I asked Grok3 AI to aerodynamically re-contour the 'draggy' engine cowl on my 1971 Cessna Cardinal RG (retractable gear)

Here is the result:

My actual plane with the 'flat plate' cowl front:

 

[RDY4WAR]

Companies are blaming layoffs on AI, but that's mostly just an excuse.
I have yet to encounter an automated phone system that could ever give me what I wanted without me having to talk to a human.

Same here. Most things I call a company for could be answered by a human in 20 seconds, maybe 1 minute if they have to ask higher up. Instead, I have to listen to a recording talk about how I could get an answer on their website at... (If I could get it answered on the website, I wouldn't be calling you, you fu..... anyway) and how their company is striving for the best customer service (by making me listen to bot and yell "representative" 50 times) and go through a bunch of unnecessary options that takes several minutes for the recording to finally shut up and put someone on the line.

 

[tbm5690]

"Forces" is never a great word in the economy. I'm in "the trades" and it pays well and is intellectually stimulating. But if I have coworkers who are Ill suited for it I'm going to have to watch out for their safety and cover their incompetence.

Sure, I wish I could get my kitchen remodeled cheaper, faster, and with fewer surly contractors who know they're the only game in town. But I don't want to live in a world where everyone's hungry for work, either.

When AI makes the perfect companion bot, birthrates will decline drastically, saving the planet... unless those bots require lots of electricity.

I think "forces" is appropriate considering the amount of useless degrees and dead-end career paths there are out there...although obvious to some clearly others can't see their folly. Assuming someone has the aptitude to learn a skill and master it...I agree that not everyone should be expected to excel in safety sensitive positions.

People need to have more kids, not less when it comes to the west. The planet will be just fine.