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The Education of a Doomer

https://borretti.me/article/the-education-of-a-doomer
25•f311a•1h ago

Comments

ArcHound•38m ago
The issue with devaluation of human work is that the automation doesn't have to be real. All you have to do is make nearly all employers agree that a particular job can pay less.

And that's the case today - new AI being a sufficient programmer replacement is enough of a statement to do layoffs with record profits without impact on stock prices.

rahulyc•26m ago
I'm not sure what happens (I think no one does), but with every other technology, I can opt-out if I don't want to use it.

Even if I get unemployed, I don't see how I can opt-out when it comes to everyone everywhere using it.

Governments historically have considered humans as assets - it's even called "human capital", and they require us for tax revenue and to run the state. What happens when we aren't needed? Even if the AI is magically aligned to the state, I don't see how I end up the winning side of that. It's not like we're getting a voice in how this is shoved down our throats today. Why would it get any better when AGI can do everything humans can do? What still gives us a voice in the world?

paulpauper•26m ago
I’ve never had this worry. When I was funemployed last year, I spent my time reading books and writing code and hanging out with friends. If the future is an infinite UBI-funded vacation, I know what I’ll do. “Before the Singularity, read books and throw house parties; after the singularity, etc.”

yeah it's obvious the author has a really high IQ who can keep himself busy with intellectual pursuits and a nice social life of other smart people . His experience will not map to the general population, who find themselves with idle time. Also, a barebones UBI will be hardly sufficient to cover other expenses unless the AI also solves housing, healthcare, insurance, childcare, transportation etc.

throwawayk7h•17m ago
For those with low IQ like me, there's video games, movies, piracy, parties, and hiking.
bananaflag•8m ago
And probably AI will make those even more addictive
Barrin92•8m ago
Kohei Saito writes about this at length in Capital in the Anthropocene. Most obvious solution is to build an economy around social labor that has traditionally been externalized to households by capital. Start collectively paying people to take care of each other, children, the commons, public infrastructure and so on.

As ecological concerns and automation eliminate a large chunk of production it's pointless to maintain a system that only knows how to finance exactly that stuff, so socialize the gains of those and start redirecting them to socially necessary labor. There's much more to do than just playing boardgames.

throwawayk7h•16m ago
> if humans are economically useless, the state does not need them. Why pay out UBI to people who have neither economic nor political power?

Forgive me if I'm naïve. But wouldn't people just vote for UBI in this case?

bananaflag•10m ago
Good luck having votes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Nicaraguan_general_electi...

GavinMcG•9m ago
Ok, then back up a step: Why distribute the power to vote on the basis of people’s fundamental equal dignity instead of descending into warlord-driven feudalism?
bumblehean•6m ago
The cynical view would be that all of our politicians are already bought and paid for, and existing political establishments would block any "serious" candidates who support those sorts of policies.

Personally I think that's likely the case _today_, but who knows if that would hold if/when there comes a time when UBI becomes an economic necessity.

NoMoreNicksLeft•5m ago
What leverage would you have to enforce the will of the vote on those that control things?

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The Education of a Doomer

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