Economists are coming around to the idea that AI really is killing jobs

https://qz.com/economists-ai-job-displacement-industrial-revolution-statement-071326

by pseudolus • 9 days ago

12 5 9 days ago

Source: https://www.wemustactnow.ai/ (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48894640)

byoung2• 9 days ago

As with most technological revolutions, some jobs will be lost, and many more will be created. The invention of the automobile killed the horse and buggy profession, but it created car manufacturing, road construction, petroleum, motels, long haul trucking, etc. There is potential for AI to enable people to do jobs they could not do before. There are millions of people who could say this sentence: I would love to do X job but it requires Y skill that I don't have, so I do Z job instead. AI is quickly allowing everyone to do Y skill, so it is unlocking a lot of X jobs for people currently stuck doing Z jobs (or no job).

I'm old enough to remember similar talk of the internet destroying jobs. Phone information operators will be out of business because websites can give you better info, faster. Print media would disappear. Travel agents and realtors would be replaced by websites. Some of that happened, but many jobs were created. Web developers, cybersecurity, content creators, and hundreds more jobs that no one dreamed of now exist because of the internet.

sleepyguy• 9 days ago

You think so huh?

Did you considered how long it took for the new jobs to be created that the industrial revolution wiped out? Almost a century.....

I really am impressed with your optimism. That everything will be alright and there will be jobs we never dreamed of.....

hungryhobbit• 9 days ago

So, you know not to blindly trust "experts" ... right? Case in point: this is not an unbiased group of economists!

"Anton Korinek, a University of Virginia professor currently embedded with Anthropic, framed the urgency in historical terms: "Steam, electricity, and computers each gave societies decades to adapt; AI may give us only a few years." ..."

"... Industry representation on the signatory list is notable, with Reuters reporting that it includes Sarah Friar, who serves as OpenAI's finance chief, Jeff Dean of Google $GOOGL -1.31% DeepMind, and Jack Clark, one of Anthropic's founding figures."

In other words, these are people from an industry that has a strong financial interest in selling the idea that their products are world-changing. But, if you blindly accept the word of anyone trying to make a buck off you, without thinking critically ... well, OP you really need to contact me offline about this great bridge I have for sale ...

deterministic• 9 days ago

Economists are famous for almost always being wrong predicting the future.

Economists are coming around to the idea that AI really is killing jobs

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