AI/LLMs cannot "do work that is worth doing" in this context because the work that is worth doing involves human learning/education, not simply the production of content.

If you meant, "when can AI perform all writing tasks such that it would be a waste of time for human beings to develop the ability to express themselves in writing", well, fine question, likely answered far too soon.

It's already clear that existing LLM have the ability to do things that were previously only accessible to people with "human learning/education."

"Production of content" can probably go a lot further than you think, for a model that has internet/API access.

Would love to see more warrants on the claims you are making - feel like you haven't fleshed it out enough in this comment.

Will reliance on LLMs neuter our minds the same way that reliance on machinery has withered our bodies.

The claim I made was that “work worth doing” was worth doing because of its effect on human beings. This is not the same thing as “work worth producing”.

Ex: practicing scales on my guitar is work worth doing, because of its effect on me, not because it produces anything of value in itself or of interest to anyone. It is meaningless that my computer can do scales vastly better than I can, because the production of scales is not what makes the work worth doing.

I disagree.

If the work leads to the production of something worthwhile net of any other losses from the work, the work is "worth doing."

So "work worth producing" is, at minimum, a subset of "work worth doing"

So what do we do with all the middle class human bs generators today once a lot of pr, journalism, copy and marketing is replaced?

If history is any indicator, the last group of middle class professionals who decided to take this question into their own hands ended up getting executed by the state or exiled to penal colonies[1].

The rest of them, and their families, ended up dying in utter destitution. That's what "we" will probably do again.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite#Government_response

When will ChatGPT replace C-suite executives, I wonder? Just think of the savings!

Why stop at C-suite? A bunch of chatGPT agents working together could operate a company fully automated.

They could function as consumers too.

Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B.

you are free to not use the technology. the luddites went burning down other people's factories, so not super surprising to me that the state responded with force.

But people don't use the word "Luddite" as some sort of worker protesting for the sake of vengeance at the government that abandoned them. People talk as if Luddites were some backwards people, that failed to adopt technology and died because they couldn't adapt. If being a Luddite involves a civil war, it is no longer an argument in favor of never questioning technological progress.

And the Sons of Liberty threw other people's tea in the Boston harbor. They were free to buy tea elsewhere.

The state made machine breaking a capital crime. That is, if you break or destroy a machine, you can be executed.

Many who were tried and convicted of machine breaking were accused or guilty by association, or literally broke machines, and were executed. States responded with death and contempt, not merely force.

This has been a problem with every new productive technology. The civilized answer is "society takes on the responsibility of teaching them to do other things".

Of course, this often does not happen for one of two reasons. First, society doesn't always choose the civilized answer; it often chooses to just marginalize the folks who just lost their jobs. Second, society often really wants to pick the thing they're teaching these people to do -- this is how you get people trying to teach coal miners how to code, despite coal miners being by and large uninterested in coding.

These are pretty real problems that we're already grappling with, but we're going to need to get very serious about it very soon. LLMs aren't the only reason why.

Universal Basic Income?

>once a lot of pr, journalism, copy and marketing is replaced

Enjoy them doing something productive (I hope)

Good thing population is reducing, isn't it?

Even if we conveniently assume that all the people of the future smaller population have it in them to do the jobs AI is not yet good enough at (and none of them are would-be copywriters because that's where their skill ceiling is), surely the game-theoretical shift from "if you, aspiring original writer, don't make it for some reason or another, you'll have to settle for a lower-prestige/-pay writing job" to "...you'll actually be stuck with none of the skills you acquired being of particular value to anyone". Writing as a career would assume a risk profile more akin to trying to become a K-pop idol.

Should be possible to train them all as scrum masters.

Now that is truly a scary thing. What is worse than a scrum master, a bitter ex journalist scrum master.

Take them outside and shoot them.

> So what do we do with all the middle class human bs generators today

Funny that bullshitting was the easiest job to automate to perfection. But now everyone can spin up their AI bullshit operation. Anti-bullshit AI would be very valuable in this situation.

Hopefully: UBI, retraining, something along those lines

Probably: Let them eat cake

on having to grapple: https://xkcd.com/810/