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Bill Gates Thinks AI Taking Everyone's Jobs Could be a Good Thing (businessinsider.com)
Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, thinks that artificial intelligence will take over a lot of jobs and ultimately will be a good thing. From a report:
In an interview, Gates said that robots taking over our jobs will make us more efficient, and lead to more free time. "Well, certainly we can look forward to the idea that vacations will be longer at some point," Gates told Fox Business. "If we can actually produce twice as much as we make today with less labor, the purpose of humanity is not just to sit behind a counter and sell things, you know?"
I don't care if a robot takes my job, but I *do* care if a robot takes my salary. I would imagine most folks feel similarly.
There will either be some sort of basic income or some other redistribution to the people left salary-less, or in another decade there will be social strife that makes today look positively quaint by comparison.
Easy enough to say when you have enough resources that you won't need to work to support yourself. How does he propose to distribute this bounteous windfall? Does he think the companies run the AI production facilities are going to be handing out their product to the idled (non-)workers?
Yeah, right, Bill. You go first!
Anyone else remember the 1960's, when they were telling us by 2000 everyone would only have to work 20 hours a week? That sure ended well!
Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
...is A-OK with no one else having money.
Exactly. He's been a billionaire for most of his adult life and has no concept of reality.
A hundred years ago, Henry Ford paid his employees wages that were higher than most other companies at that time. Not because he was generous, but because he understood that they weren't just workers, they were also customers, and good wages meant they had more money to spend and in the long run he would sell more cars.
Ironically, in the long run, the destruction of jobs by robots and AI hurts the billionaires just as much as everyone else. You aren't just getting rid of jobs/employees -- you're getting rid of customers. Once you've used robots and AI to eliminate all the jobs, who exactly do you think is going to buy your company's products?
He means unemployment and time to wander the streets because you're homeless.
Once you've used robots and AI to eliminate all the jobs, who exactly do you think is going to buy your company's products?
Who cares about getting more money when you own 100% of global wealth?
What do you need money for if there are robots and AI agents capable of producing everything humanity needs. Once you're able to supply everyone with basic needs at essentially no cost because you don't need expensive human labor, everyone is essentially rich to the point that they can spend their days engaged in leisure or their own creative endeavors.
There's no point in wealthy people trying to control the poor because unlike now where they could be potential workers to produce more wealth, they offer no such utility in a future with advanced AI and robots. So either the wealthy completely eradicate the poor and there are no longer any poor people, or the wealthy decide to let everyone benefit from the improved production efficiency and no one is materially poor in the way that might be now.
Dystopian societies where the technologically advanced rich oppress the poor for no rational benefit or reason only exist in novels and films. As soon as they cease to be valuable as labor the only sensible thing to do is either exterminate them or give them everything they need to survive and leave them to their own devices.
With all the automation and huge increases in productivity, how many of you are working fewer hours than you were 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago?
I'm willing to bet it's damn few of you. The fact is that automation and increases in productivity do not put money in the pockets of people who work for a living, they put money in the pockets of people who own for a living, which is a very small fraction of the population.
If you're excited by the prospects of automation and AI and all that good stuff, you better come to terms with a massive increase in the social welfare state, because there is no other option.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It's the transition period that is the problem. There are plenty of people who seem to have a visceral reaction against anyone without a job or existing material wealth receiving even the most basic goods or services needed for life. Until that is eradicated, we can have only dystopia.
Reminds me of the classic twilight zone episode where the book loving protagonist, in a post apocalyptic world, finally has time enough to read all the books they ever wanted only to break thier glasses putting all reading out of touch forever. When we let just a few people own all the technology and systems, they can live like gods while us plebs have the freedom and time to starve to death and die. Revolt is a limited time offer, when the mines, foundries, manufacturing, assembly, customer service and more is all automated, striking workers is the perfect excuse to do away with them all forever - you don't pay robots. Further, a gun is going to do jack squat against swarms of suicide bomb micro kill drones, autonomous ground forces or drone air strikes, humans that do not live in full military societies are surprisingly easy to take down. With the military automated as well, a few people could put down the rest of the billions on the planet like was never possible to even imagine, much less realize.
True... but that's what's kept an ongoing need for the poor. Once robots can do everything that rich people need them to do, poor people will be irrelevant, and just a drain on society.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
jesus fucking christ what an asshat.
He was also a virulent racist and anti-semite
Which was perfectly normal, at the time.