Is AI the final nail?

[malcontent]

I think it started with Facebook groups and then Reddit… but now AI is probably the latest tool of choice.

Over the past few years, I have seen AI advance to the point where it’s getting close to 80% accurate, even on complex and obscure topics. I’m sure AI uses sources like this forum to achieve that. Just last week I downloaded Claude AI and started peppering it with my toughest tax questions… it outperformed ChatGPT & Gemini.

[Addadude]

It is astonishing to me that governments across the world have not yet recognised the impact that exponential AI use will have on society or even started to do anything about it. Thousands of jobs and roles have already disappeared that will never come back.

And it's not a case of "oh, AI will create new jobs with new skill requirements". No. The whole point and ultimate aim of AI as far as the tech mega billionaires are concerned is to remove the need for human labour completely. And that is what's happening.

KPMG in the UK has cut back massively on graduate hiring because AI has eliminated the entry level roles they would normally give to graduates. (So much for the 'social contract' of study hard, and sacrifice your social life and hobbies to get a good degree so you can land a great paying job when you graduate.) Tech companies themselves are eliminating thousands of jobs every week. (Yes, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors going as to whether these job cuts are driven by the increased efficiency of AI or the need to make savings to satisfy investors but the impact itself is very real.) Even at my humble level, I can no longer justify hiring extra team members because AI has improved productivity so massively. If people leave, they're not replaced - because "AI can do their job".

And that brings me to a second point: from my personal experience, the current capabilities of AI are overhyped (by the CEOS of the AI companies of course). So a lot of the top decision makers in organisations (who do not themselves actually use AI) think that these technologies can do a lot more than they really can. And so these cuts are implemented without fully realising the impact on the organisation - or more accurately - the people left. (Various articles about Jack Dorsey's decision to axe 40% of his workforce at Block because of so-called AI efficiencies cover this quite well.)

But, getting back to the original point: what's going to happen to the people who have lost or will lose their jobs, or the graduates who can't find a job? What impact will the mass unemployment that is coming have on society and the global economy? (The obvious equation: zero income = zero purchasing of all the extra goods and services produced by AI-driven production). I have not seen any government seriously raising this issue let alone suggesting measures to tackle it. Instead they just kick the can further down the road.

[Strong Eagle]

We're f*cked. If the fruits of AI were equally distributed to all, then all would work less and prosper. AI efficiencies would mean that people work less for the same money.

But the billionaire class will prevent this and in the name of personal wealth, will ensure that the fruits of AI will go only to a handful, making them richer still. The fruits of capitalism.

AI generated unemployment (and don't forget AI powered robots) is only one piece of a perfect economic storm that will generate massive unemployment, severe displacement and wrecked economies as people can no longer afford mortgages or cars or food.

The riots are going to be horrible. What is unknown is whether the cataclysmic upheavals will bring the fruits of AI to all or introduce us to a dystopian world where billionaires and corporations control the world more than they already do.

[abbby]

The irony of AI, humans creating it to eliminate themselves. The number of jobs lost from AI is quite astounding. It's only good for the bosses...

[malcontent]

Take the recent case of my brother who needed some legal help. Without the help of AI he simply wouldn’t have gotten any help because a lawyer was too expensive relative to the claim amount (a few thousand). Having AI didn’t replace the lawyer, it just made my brother a lot smarter — it drafted the demand letter and guided him through each step of the process to file the lawsuit. He probably could have done the same by researching the Internet, but it would have taken a lot longer.

[abbby]

@malcontent That's definitely one beauty of AI. Are they good in drafting Wills too? Could we draft one using AI and do without a lawyer?

[malcontent]

@malcontent That's definitely one beauty of AI. Are they good in drafting Wills too? Could we draft one using AI and do without a lawyer?

I would say do your due diligence. Check anything AI drafts against sample wills online. I usually have a lot of back-and-forth with AI before I get something that is truly good and complete.

[smoulder]

I have an acquaintance in India who had a notion that AI can do anything, replace anyone etc. So he went ahead and had some rental contract drafted by Chatgpt. He obviously didn't do his due diligence, trusted the AI too much and ended up with problems later.

So like Mal mentioned - make sure to check what the AI spits out.

[Wd40]

What I found amazing is how AI has now entered our life and become an integral part of it.

I have used to chatgpt to provide me suggestions on my diet and I realised how I was eating way too much rice like most Indians do. Now with AI, it is so easy to upload a picture of your meal and ask if the proportions are right and once an authority like that tells you you are eating too much carbs, there is no going back.

Chatgpt also helped me follow a simple boiled chicken recipe and now I have incorporated into my meals. I have substituted half of my rice portion with chicken and with physical activity now my weight has gone from 75kg to 60kg which is perfect for my height of 5'5.5". Also breakfast now I have 2 slices of multigrain bread and 2 fried eggs.

[malcontent]

Losing 20% of your weight is a major accomplishment WD. I’m 1.85m tall and have been trying to get below 90kg for years. I’m now within 1kg of getting there, but I’m only dealing with single-digit percentage kind of improvements.