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Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, told CNBC that people are “too smart” to accept artificial intelligence won’t alter their work environment.
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Business leaders shouldn’t “BS” employees about the impact of AI on jobs, Kavanaugh said, adding that they should be as transparent and honest as possible.
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Kavanaugh, who has a net worth of $7 billion, stressed that overall he’s an optimist when it comes to AI and its ability to improve productivity.
Summary:
Tech bro billionaire thinks no one knows what the impact of ai will be on the market but also that the impact will be huge for employees and that everyone should learn ai.
Conclusion: Tech bro billionaire invested in ai and has realized that there is barely any real money to be made as of right now, to cope with his apparent bad judgement, he doubles down on the idea that ai soon be worth it. To continue his plan, he needs more funding and he doesn’t want to double down hard enough to do it all himself. So to find new investors, he sings the praise of ai and promises a great future, as the present looks… Well… Bad.
Jobs will be lost short term, but in 5 to 7 years we’ll all be like “Hey, remember AI? LOL!”
I work with a lot of software where ai is part of the tool set, and in a lot of use cases it comes in pretty handy and really can save time. I think ai really will kill some jobs but mostly in undesirable industries, call center and the likes, and it will deteriorate quality in customer service even more. (That’s the point where I always lol.)
Besides that: I’m quite sure that every job that gets lost due to ai will be reinstated by “demographic demand” - western nations will run out of workers sooner than they think (it’s already happening), and in a few years companies will not hire but buy workers.
Simply wait for it, and then choose the job of your likings.
There’s no connotation to “buy workers” that’s unpleasant here, nosiree!
But a quick question: how many lost jobs got replaced by “learn to code”? (I’ll need sources.) (Hint: these don’t exist.)
“Learn to script” will indeed become more common (coincidentally I had a meeting today about scripting in a DMS).
Can’t tell about numbers as that is far from my expertise.
You’re missing the point.
There are never, for all practical purposes, jobs that get recovered by disruptive technology. This is why Luddites existed for the industrial revolution and why neo-Luddites exist today. Those lost jobs? They’re lost for good. And if you let typical western “dog-eat-dog” capitalism continue the damage from this will only mount.
Those manufacturing, farming, etc. jobs that gutted working class America? They didn’t get replaced by “learn to code” jobs. The same will happen when AI replaces workers (even with inferior copies). The Luddites had a point (and it’s not the one that people seem to think it was).
That specific field is lost. “There aren’t enough jobs” has never been more than a short term issue, while the technological progress idiots complain about is constantly moving the standard of living massively forward.
This iteration of “AI” won’t replace workers long term because it doesn’t work. But when we get to the point where it actually can, the standard of living will, once again, be massively better across the board as a direct result of the ability to do more work with less effort.
It’s a “short term issue” … but the people without jobs? Living in desperate poverty?
THEY. ARE. PEOPLE. NOT. STATISTICS.
If you’re going to introduce disruptive technology that renders a huge fraction of the populace unemployable, or even that just relegates a huge fraction of the population into low-paid, low-quality jobs plan for them as well, not just the fucking billionaire bank accounts!
That means perhaps making the billionaires pay more tax, say, to provide a buffer for the disrupted people. They can buy their next superyacht a year or two later.
There are other jobs. Adapting and changing is part of life.
Every technologically advancement throughout history has resulted in the floor, ceiling, and median quality of life significantly advancing in short order. There isn’t a group who isn’t better off very quickly as a result of the change that was always inevitable.
Change isn’t bad.
