Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressuring Local Universities

Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by aaronbrethorst on Sunday May 06, 2018 @02:13AM (#17005461)

Meanwhile, Professors in the humanities departments at the University of Washington worry about how they'll afford to pay rent with Seattle's skyrocketing housing costs and the University's lack of raises for folks in their fields.

(source: I know several.)

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by Radim on Sunday May 06, 2018 @03:41AM (#17005607)

But what is the solution? Raise taxes for all of us to pay the increased salaries of humanities professors?

There is certainly great value in humanities, but that value shouldn't be determined by "an unrelated field is hot, so let's make hot money too".

Especially when it's other people footing the bill, and especially with what's going on in humanity departments these days.

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by aaronbrethorst on Sunday May 06, 2018 @03:43AM (#17005609)

I don't think that being able to afford a place to live and being able to pay your student loans is "hot money."

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by ajiang on Sunday May 06, 2018 @08:23AM (#17006145)

Depending on your student loans and rent prices, wouldn't it be?

Rent in a major city is $2000/mo. Student loan payments can be in the tens of thousands per year. Assuming a normal tax rate, professors would need to make 6+ figures to live comfortably.

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by lackbeard on Sunday May 06, 2018 @09:24AM (#17006330)

Step number zero should be to let housing get cheaper by relaxing zoning laws in the city.

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by zxcvvcxz on Sunday May 06, 2018 @07:10AM (#17006008)

It's almost like the market doesn't want to pay more for humanities professors.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by called_it on Sunday May 06, 2018 @12:30PM (#17006970)

It's almost as if when all you're able to do is compare two numbers and see which one is bigger, every problem gets reduced to comparing two numbers to see which one is bigger.

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Re:Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressu... by lostmsu on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @04:28PM (#17086169)

Eventually it might come down to entropy

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