Productivity gains help the world by allowing more services and products to be provided at cheaper rates. This software engineer self-loathing I keep reading about is completely misguided, it's like you are expected to hate yourself for doing valuable labor.
That can be true and still not ease the pain inflicted by unemployment. The poster is confronting the consequences of their work and you are suggesting The Greater Good should simply trump their basic human empathy... An alternative might be to accept both benefits and costs of said work and make an effort to mitigate the costs via charity, volunteering, support for social programs, etc.
Someone well educated who understand software should know what being a "software engineer" entails.
Talking to my mum or someone that isn't technical, I am a "computer programmer" as its something I think they will understand a lot more easily.
Or if the conversation is more casual say a random person in a pub, then I will even say I am a "computer nerd", as I think it brings you to their level a bit more and shows you don't take yourself too seriously.
Everybody says 'the robots are destroying jobs' but the unemployment rate (in the US at least) is very low right now. If AI is taking all the jobs, how is the unemployment rate so low and the economy booming?
The possibilities I can think of: - AI is creating jobs at the same rate it automates them. The new jobs may not be as good as the old jobs, or perhaps they require people to totally retrain which isn't always feasible. But people need to make a living and they adapt because they have to.
- Lots of people have given up looking for work.
- For the most part, AI is augmenting rather than replacing humans.
- The full impact of AI on our society has yet to be felt, and we should brace ourselves like the rich techies building compounds in New Zealand.
What do you think?
When I lived in Waterloo, everyone was a software person or related so it wasn't a problem. But I moved to a small city where almost everyone is a factory worker of some sort for farming or auto industries. When someone asks and I say I'm a software engineer, it usually stops there. Or they'll say something along the lines of, "oooh fancy". And if they keep asking about it they might learn, if I don't hold it from them, that I basically work in an industry trying to eliminate their jobs.
I didn't really think about this social aspect when I moved. Now I have to be somewhat dishonest with my neighbours as they all get up at the crack of dawn or go in for a night shift to make a living while I work in my pajamas from home for an industry trying to make them obsolete.
It's complicated and really aches when I'm confronted with it during social times.