Social AI Could Wipe Out the Working Class | Sen. Bernie Sanders

[Why did you]

The artificial intelligence and robotics being developed by multi-billionaires will allow corporate America to wipe out tens of millions of decent-paying jobs, cut labor costs and boost profits.
What happens to working class people who can’t find jobs because they don’t exist?


your thoughts on this topic ?

 

[BudKing8806]

I have no doubt that some jobs will be replaced, but I don't think it will be that widespread. I saw something recently about a study with AI where they basically gave AI access to fake emails. The emails detailed a person who would be in charge of shutting the AI systems down for the company along with info(in separate fake emails) about that specific persons infidelity. The AI(multiple platforms) were then basically planning to blackmail the person to not shut down the systems by threatening to release the infidelity info it gathered from the emails. I don't remember where I saw it or if it was credible though. I may see if I can find it again.

 

[nostradumbass]

They should just run for mayor of Burlington if they don't have a real job.

 

[djacobox372]

I have no doubt that some jobs will be replaced, but I don't think it will be that widespread. I saw something recently about a study with AI where they basically gave AI access to fake emails. The emails detailed a person who would be in charge of shutting the AI systems down for the company along with info(in separate fake emails) about that specific persons infidelity. The AI(multiple platforms) were then basically planning to blackmail the person to not shut down the systems by threatening to release the infidelity info it gathered from the emails. I don't remember where I saw it or if it was credible though. I may see if I can find it again.

What has brought you to think that? What jobs will AI not be able to do better than humans in 5, 10, 20 years?

I've been using AI for computer programming, and it's already capable of taking at least 50% of the jobs out there (one programmer with the help of AI can do the work of 2), and I forsee it taking 90% of the jobs in that sector within 5 years. Adoption is the only major hurdle.

Truck driving will be next, 99% of those jobs will be gone in 10 years. Than all white color, non physical jobs... they'll be extinct in 15-20 years.

Robotics is behind, but it will catch up... once it does. Humans will be curiosities, not useful in the private sector at all. Professional sports and other human vs. human competition for entertainment will be about the only thing that won't be affected.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Will*

 

[Satsui Ryu]

It is pretty scary. So many people think their jobs are safe because they think they cannot be done by Ai and robotics. Problem is if these technologies affect enough jobs it will have a huge impact on the overall economy that will eventually impact those jobs that it would seem cannot be done by Ai and robotics. This belief is also incredibly shortsighted because the tech is only going to get better and over time take over more and more jobs.

 

[TeTe]

So much hyperbole when it comes to AI, but I'm not shocked, people love doom porn.

 

[chardog]

I think in 10 years, they might capture 5% of the working class, only elon is creating a general purpose robot to do that, and I dont think it replaces past five percent. Even self driving cars, a simpler version of robotics, has taken a long time, and will continue to take likely five more years to retire uber drivers, human dexterity is darn unbeatable, however, even without robots, manufacturing jobs can disappear due to more innovated processes.

the unbox process reduces is meant to use less people and build faster, and has little to nothing to do with AI


Going green has unintended consequences, vehicle production is arguably much simpler, and simpler means less workers all around, very few service folks, it doesnt have to be robots themselves that fundamentally change the workforce, it can be something as simple a changing to kiosks at the register, although that has been hit and miss. I think robots will be an addition to the workforce and do what they do now, by capturing the dangerous tasks and leave the easier tasks for humans.

 

[TeTe]

What has brought you to think that? What jobs will AI not be able to do better than humans in 5, 10, 20 years?

I've been using AI for computer programming, and it's already capable of taking at least 50% of the jobs out there (one programmer with the help of AI can do the work of 2), and I forsee it taking 90% of the jobs in that sector within 5 years. Adoption is the only major hurdle.

Truck driving will be next, 99% of those jobs will be gone in 10 years. Than all white color, non physical jobs... they'll be extinct in 15-20 years.

Robotics is behind, but it will catch up... once it does. Humans will be curiosities, not useful in the private sector at all. Professional sports and other human vs. human competition for entertainment will be about the only thing that won't be affected.

Makes zero sense to stifle growth by letting go of people. The ROI on augmenting the same number of people with AI is exponentially better than halving your staff to do the same amount of work as the staff you had. Good way to get left behind.

If I had ten employees generating $1 million a year.. and thought I was slick by getting rid of five and still making $1 million a year... I'm stunting growth just to save a small percentage.

However, if I have ten employees, augmented with AI, and they could make $2 million a year now.. which choice is the smarter one?

But hey, remember when the internet was supposed to take everyone's jobs? Automation has been happening for centuries and it has never caused mass job loss, it's just evolves the job market.

 

[TeTe]

It is pretty scary. So many people think their jobs are safe because they think they cannot be done by Ai and robotics. Problem is if these technologies affect enough jobs it will have a huge impact on the overall economy that will eventually impact those jobs that it would seem cannot be done by Ai and robotics. This belief is also incredibly shortsighted because the tech is only going to get better and over time take over more and more jobs.

Again this is not anything new. Robots have been doing the job of blue collar workers for decades now. You've probably seen the robots building cars in factories back in the 80s. The market evolves and new jobs are created. There may be jobs that will be extinct in 10 or 15 years, but there will be new ones that come along too. Many of them wil be AI related. You should look up the number of job openings in your area that AI related. AI engineering is a hot field right now.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Makes zero sense to stifle growth by letting go of people. The ROI on augmenting the same number of people with AI is exponentially better than halving your staff to do the same amount of work as the staff you had. Good way to get left behind.

If I had ten employees generating $1 million a year.. and thought I was slick by getting rid of five and still making $1 million a year... I'm stunting growth just to save a small percentage.

However, if I have ten employees, augmented with AI, and they could make $2 million a year now.. which choice is the smarter one?

But hey, remember when the internet was supposed to take everyone's jobs? Automation has been happening for centuries and it has never caused mass job loss, it's just evolves the job market.

In some cases you’re right. In others, you’re wrong.

Take recruiting, if the headcount growth for a business is 1000 hires a year and it takes 50 recruiters to fill those roles today, but will take 10 recruiters to fill it in 5 years, you will have 40 unemployed recruiters because the company likely won’t need to increase their headcount demand.

Take call centers, tens of thousands of employees will now be AI in 2-3 years.

 

[TeTe]

In some cases you’re right. In others, you’re wrong.

Take recruiting, if the headcount growth for a business is 1000 hires a year and it takes 50 recruiters to fill those roles today, but will take 10 recruiters to fill it in 5 years, you will have 40 unemployed recruiters because the company likely won’t need to increase their headcount demand.

Take call centers, tens of thousands of employees will now be AI in 2-3 years.

Customer service jobs will never go away completely though. People hate chatbots. To this day, I find myself yelling "speak to a representative" into the phone. I stopped using Coinbase because I hate their CS so much.

 

[NickNick]

So much hyperbole when it comes to AI, but I'm not shocked, people love doom porn.

Eh, if you work in IT like I do you would be thinking differently. The massive steps it has taken over the last 5 years is wild. A LOT of IT jobs are going to disappear or be minimized down to a few people behind a AI chat bot in the next 5-10 years. It needs to be regulated ASAP, but that ain't happening under this administration.

 

[Sinister]

Makes zero sense to stifle growth by letting go of people. The ROI on augmenting the same number of people with AI is exponentially better than halving your staff to do the same amount of work as the staff you had. Good way to get left behind.

If I had ten employees generating $1 million a year.. and thought I was slick by getting rid of five and still making $1 million a year... I'm stunting growth just to save a small percentage.

However, if I have ten employees, augmented with AI, and they could make $2 million a year now.. which choice is the smarter one?

But hey, remember when the internet was supposed to take everyone's jobs? Automation has been happening for centuries and it has never caused mass job loss, it's just evolves the job market.

Sure but you're a rational person who doesnt think the working class are inherently beneath you and not worth investing in. Billionaires who pay politicians for the dismantling of social safety nets WHILE AI development is ramping up with the specific purpose of cutting labor costs is a real thing. Just as is (and was) billionaires perfectly willing to crash and economy to buy more things at cheap prices, and just as is billionaires thinking their spending can float the entire economy without having to do anything for the working class.

I dont disagree with hour basic points, but I dont see a single reason to trust in the idea of "conscious capitalism." Not when we have the kind of aggressive deregulatuon, refusal of Union negotiation, and capture of media spheres we're seeing right now.

Bernie's over all message is not just that AI development leads to job loss. I dont think he thinks AI development can be stopped. Rather what he is saying aligns with you perspective in that the job market needs to evolve. However he doesnt think it CAN evolve efficiently for the working class with massively hoarded resources and constantly skyrocketing prices. Unlike many capitalists and politicians Bernie visits places plagued by economic decimation and speaks to people there about what happened. He is advocating for more robust safety nets via more comprehensive taxation of those profiting the most from this change. For economics not to be looked at as a game some wealthy people won, but the foundation upon which citizens have security to be considered free.

 

[TeTe]

Eh, if you work in IT like I do you would be thinking differently. The massive steps it has taken over the last 5 years is wild. A LOT of IT jobs are going to disappear or be minimized down to a few people behind a AI chat bot in the next 5-10 years. It needs to be regulated ASAP, but that ain't happening under this administration.

Guess we'll see. I know that IT people in my company use it, but the thing is, someone still needs to pull the strings. It helps makes them more efficient, but doesn't eliminate the need for them to be there.

I'm a content designer, and while AI in it's current form can be helpful for menial, repetitive tasks with documentation, it isn't a cure all. I have to babysit and waste a lot of time fixing it's outputs.

Our software developers use AI for some things too.. especially for writing basic javascripts and for QA testing. But in spite of the fact that we use AI tools for QA testing.. we just had to hire two more QA analysts because we're so swamped.

 

[BudKing8806]

What has brought you to think that? What jobs will AI not be able to do better than humans in 5, 10, 20 years?

I've been using AI for computer programming, and it's already capable of taking at least 50% of the jobs out there (one programmer with the help of AI can do the work of 2), and I forsee it taking 90% of the jobs in that sector within 5 years. Adoption is the only major hurdle.

Truck driving will be next, 99% of those jobs will be gone in 10 years. Than all white color, non physical jobs... they'll be extinct in 15-20 years.

Robotics is behind, but it will catch up... once it does. Humans will be curiosities, not useful in the private sector at all. Professional sports and other human vs. human competition for entertainment will be about the only thing that won't be affected.

Its just my opinion from what I've seen so far. I work here and there with ai and I often have to correct the stuff that it screws up. There's no telling what it will be like in another decade though. I definitely think the tech industry will be hit the hardest at first.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Makes zero sense to stifle growth by letting go of people. The ROI on augmenting the same number of people with AI is exponentially better than halving your staff to do the same amount of work as the staff you had. Good way to get left behind.

If I had ten employees generating $1 million a year.. and thought I was slick by getting rid of five and still making $1 million a year... I'm stunting growth just to save a small percentage.

However, if I have ten employees, augmented with AI, and they could make $2 million a year now.. which choice is the smarter one?

But hey, remember when the internet was supposed to take everyone's jobs? Automation has been happening for centuries and it has never caused mass job loss, it's just evolves the job market.

How many jobs do you think AI will create that couldn't be done by AI is my question.

Sure with automation of factories that meant you could increase output but AI just seems like it doesn't have that next natural step really. Sure you could increase efficiency of doing accounts which mean an accountanting firm could do more accounts but the overall market for people needing their accounts doing doesn't get any bigger.

 

[chrisdiaz]

I doubt Bernie Sanders even understands what AI is. Its also a giant tech buzzword at this point that could mean multiple things. Is it a LLM? A video generator? More fear mongering at this point. It is something to keep an eye on and regulate, especially the video generating.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Customer service jobs will never go away completely though. People hate chatbots. To this day, I find myself yelling "speak to a representative" into the phone. I stopped using Coinbase because I hate their CS so much.

That’s today — things are already getting better and we’re in exponential times.

 

[NickNick]

Guess we'll see. I know that IT people in my company use it, but the thing is, someone still needs to pull the strings. It helps makes them more efficient, but doesn't eliminate the need for them to be there.

I'm a content designer, and while AI in it's current form can be helpful for menial, repetitive tasks with documentation, it isn't a cure all. I have to babysit and waste a lot of time fixing it's outputs.

Our software developers use AI for some things too.. especially for writing basic javascripts and for QA testing. But in spite of the fact that we use AI tools for QA testing.. we just had to hire two more QA analysts because we're so swamped.

The problem is that companies/organizations are not going to be satisfied as it just being a tool for making their employees more efficient. It is going to need to bring them in money especially since they are likely paying out the ass to use said AI. To them more efficient means you should be able to do more work than before which means less manpower for said job load, ie less jobs.

Governments are going to need to regulate it in some way. Whether that means massive tax implications if you use AI in place of humans or something along those lines. There is a reason the current administration tried to stop states from regulating AI for a period of 10 years in the BBB. Luckily that got stripped out.