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A comment on Behind the curtain: what it feels like to work in AI right now. Parent comment

Re:Behind the curtain: what it feels like to work in AI righ... by int_19h on Friday April 07, 2023 @06:41PM (#35488005)
Many of the people who do have the wealth have been talking about UBI. Not out of the kindness of their heart, but because they understand that a world in which billions of people suddenly become "economically redundant" is also the world in which their mansions will burn, some quite possibly with their owners inside. Now, these guys mostly propose the "bare minimum" kind - effectively, just enough to prevent this scenario. But they can't argue for it without legitimizing the concept in general.

The bigger political problem in US specifically is just how hostile the public opinion is to anything that "stinks" of socialism. There's also the perception that AI is automating away "useless" white collar jobs, and not "real man's work". The right-wing intelligentsia who tries to sell UBI to their electorate is having a hard time getting past that, but I don't think it's insurmountable with the right approach, and it's also much less of an issue in most other countries. In any case, I think attitudes will change very quickly once more people outside of tech and art get first-hands experience with job loss, if not for themselves than for someone they know.

The harm between now and then is serious and real, yes. I just don't see any feasible way to prevent it through regulation, not to mention that it would face just as many political hurdles. We have already jumped; let's not waste time trying to flap our arms to see if that works, and try to arrange for a safe landing instead.

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Re:Behind the curtain: what it feels like to work in AI righ... by JohnFen on Friday April 07, 2023 @06:53PM (#35488120)
> try to arrange for a safe landing instead.

That would be nice. I sincerely hope that we can swing that. I just don't see a realistic path for it. And almost everything that I've been hearing the enthusiasts say just makes everything seem more hopeless.

But I'm very much hoping that I'm wrong. At this point, hoping is the only thing I have the power to do.

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Re:Behind the curtain: what it feels like to work in AI righ... by int_19h on Friday April 07, 2023 @09:35PM (#35489514)
One thing that I wish more people realized is that if this tech wave does push our societies into this degree of violence - and I believe that this is a distinct possibility - it won't be Altman's mansion that'll burn first. It'll be the houses of software engineers and other "high middle class" occupations in rich suburbs - simply because they are much closer, and don't have much security, so more accessible. Altman will have the time to get to his private jet off to New Zealand or wherever the current bunker is; the rest of us will suffer the immediate consequences. See also: 1917 Russian Revolution.

So, regardless of one's ethics and political philosophy, we have a very strong collective interest as an economic class to prevent this scenario. Most of us don't have any more direct political power than your average voter, but we can throw more money at the politicians. In my experience, this doesn't help one bit with "wedge issues", but this all is so new that nobody has managed to weaponize it across political lines just yet.

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