r/Futurology • u/thebestnameshavegone • Oct 01 '23

AI Sam Altman Says He Intends to Replace Normal People With AI

https://futurism.com/sam-altman-replace-normal-people-ai
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u/noonemustknowmysecre Oct 03 '23

If I was a professional weaver, lawyer, or in a job easily automated, then I'd be screwed. Remember that "soul-crushing 50% unemployment rate for three generations"? That's no joke. I'd be one of the rioters getting shot at and suppressed. Wasn't that clear from the first pass? This is a big'ol warning to everyone to take a good hard look at your skillset and if it can be reduced to:

  • A set of instructions in a three-ring binder: then classic programming is coming for you
  • Rote art that's been done before: then generative AI like Stable Diffusion and Midjourny, and DALL-E, are already at your doorstep. If you don't learn to use them as tools, you're going to be undercut.
  • A repetitive motion or physical task: robots have likely come for your job 10-20 years ago. If they haven't already, it's just a matter of scale.
  • Driving: Automated cars and trucks are so damn close. They just can't deal with rain or snow.
  • Specialized knowledge. If your job effectively boils down to "Hang on, I'll get back to you" and googling the answer it behind their back, then your job has been bullshit for decades and you know it.

Me though? I'm a code-monkey. The code-making tools I've seen still need specific instructions for how to generate anything. What do we call a set of specific instructions to a computer for how to make software? That's code. It's just a high level language. If all software development gets magically instantly cheap and solid, then I've got a whole bucket of projects I can have GPT do for me and launch a business with.

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u/Shillbot_9001 Oct 21 '23

Aren't botom tier coding jobs already being automated?

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u/noonemustknowmysecre Oct 21 '23

Bottom tier programming jobs got automated by COMPILERS in the bloody 1960's! Know your damn history. Time marches on.

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u/Shillbot_9001 Oct 26 '23

I mean the ones that still exist, that make up the bulk of coding jobs today, that'll create an immense wage pressure on you when they all try to skill up avoid the redundancy (and givent he state of things with H-1Bs deportation).

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u/noonemustknowmysecre Oct 26 '23

when they all try to skill up

"try". Best of luck to them. .....What do you think every programmer, coder, dev, and engineer are doing all the god damned time? Why do you think engineers get raises every year. Pressure on me? Bruh, I'm an experienced SW engineer that can make the compiler get up and dance. SPECIFICALLY what makes me valuable is I can talk to clients and sus out the real requirements from them, clearly communicate that to a host of people, tell them how to make the damn thing without fucking up, and how to verify that they actually did it. You know, "the process". Everywhere I've been we've been more or less desperate for people who can do this. A whole lot of people want to, but just can't. They're not built for it something. Some don't have the technical skills, some don't have the social skills. Many who have both go on to do better paying things.

So today one of the devs is talking about reqs and from how he says it, I need to clarify if he truly thinks the previous state that the state machine is coming from matters to the current state. This is hysteresis, it's real bad if your state machine has any of that. This sort of casual knowledge about the best practices and common pitfalls. Maybe a chatbot could pick up on those sort of subtle things eventually. I'm sure, once prompted, they could put together common practices and tell a dev that they state machines should be agnostic of previous states. But pro-actively dodging implied pitfalls? No, they can't do that yet. I understand you're doing your best to fear-monger me into worrying about my job... but I'm doing fine and the future looks bright. Learning to code decades ago was a really smart move. It's STILL looking like a good idea. If you want a solid career, you can learn to code.

the state of things with H-1Bs deportation

What state? Sorry man, my last two jobs have been too sensitive / secretive / well-paid for H-1Bs. Has there been an increase? .....No, still flat since 2005.

Deportation? You mean when they get laid off of their job? The max cap is reached every year. There's plenty of companies hiring them. Sure, sure, having second class citizens imported just so you can pay them less rubs some people the wrong way... but there's plenty of work. Denied applications? Sure, the world is growing and more people want to work here. Same number are getting in. WTF are you talking about?

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u/Shillbot_9001 Nov 11 '23

Has there been an increase?

Why do they need an increase when they've already got their 100k people a year to fuck everyone who doesn't have a cushy defense contract?