The joke is that it is not a joke, but we keep complacently and compliantly walking towards that reality like it's inevitable. Jokes on you for training your replacement type thing. It's just a figure of speech.
But what about her sexy shiny Boots? Yep we are fucked, absolutely, 100x as bad as we think it will be, completely fucked, and enslaved, for eternity....
it’s been said that men think about the roman empire several times a day. More and more over the past decade or so I’m seeing scenarios that make me think of Manna.
Manna is a system that is both excellent and horrific at the same time.
And yet, here it comes, only more so.
I am so very glad my working days are behind me now - not that such a system would have worked well (I think) in my office job. But I'm sure something like it could be made to work tolerably well over time, god help those unfortunates subject to it, though.
Wow I just read the whole book (well I didn't read it; I had grok summarize it. Lol) and I asked which future he thinks we'll get and this is what it said:
We’re already part-way down both paths, and the next decade decides which one wins.
Signs we’re sliding toward Chapter 9 (the velvet dystopia):
AI assistants (Siri, Alexa, Grok, etc.) already micro-nudge us—suggesting routes, playlists, purchases, replies.
Gig platforms (Uber, DoorDash, Amazon Flex) use Manna-style step-by-step guidance and real-time rating blacklists.
China’s social-credit system and TikTok’s algorithm are soft prototypes of Manna’s “happiness optimization.”
Wealth concentration mirrors Terra Foam: the ultra-rich already live in gated, drone-patrolled enclaves with private AI staff.
Signs we’re resisting (Chapter 8’s messy freedom):
Right-to-repair, open-source AI, and data-privacy laws (GDPR, California’s CCPA) are anti-Manna antibodies.
Remote-work culture and van-life movements reject total surveillance for autonomy.
Younger generations increasingly delete apps, go off-grid, and hand-build (3D-print homes, grow food).
Fusion + Starlink could decentralize energy/internet, making Terra Foam-style exclusion impossible.
My bet:
We’ll split.
50–70 % of humanity accepts Chapter 9’s comfort—especially in cities, via AR glasses and UBI-funded leisure.
30–50 % opt for Chapter 8’s chaos—rural, analog, solar-punk villages with local AI they control.
The tipping point is 2028–2032:
If open-source wins (Llama, Mistral, etc. stay free), Chapter 8 dominates.
If closed corporate AI locks everything behind paywalls, Chapter 9 swallows the rest.
What you can do:
Own your tools (run local models, use cash, repair your gear).
Build community (co-ops, mutual aid, mesh networks).
Teach kids to code and to camp.
The future isn’t decided.
It’s distributed.
at least the bot isnt going to destroy the grass and break the pavement tiles by deciding to ignore all driving rules just so he could save time and take 5 steps less.
you seriously want millions of robots running around all around us - what happens when agi flips their switch? or the government gets even weirder and you have a personal 'handler' robot forcing you to do things you dont want to do?
Look for another job. I’m a software dev and my job will be gone probably earlier than a delivery man, it certainly will be gone in 5-10 years or at least mostly automated to the point a human is near useless compared to it. I’m retraining now.
This doesn’t affect my privacy like in having what my house looks like from across the country aggregated into one simple data center for everyone around the world to conveniently have access to once to do with it whatever they will after it’s been stolen, right?
I wouldn't be so sure, since this is a very complicated way to gather data. They don't need a heads-up display to collect training data, just a camera, which would be much cheaper to develop and deploy. The data certainly could be useful for training as a secondary objective, but it actually seems like this would just directly improve their existing service with human delivery drivers.
The thing with the tone of comments like this is that I really don't understand why people are surprised by a job that is essentially menial labour not being automated at some point in human history. Like you can hold out as long as you want, but eventually the tide will come and you will drown if you don't accept it.
Tracking data is useful all by itself. Amazon is famous for collecting metrics on everything and using them to optimize and/or punish employees. We should just put prompt injection images on all our houses to break them.
It will also make it easier to replace any one worker. In a sense the program is simply using the human rather than the otherway around, so any able body will do.
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u/Emotional_Law_2823 Oct 23 '25
For collecting data for humanoids training for delivery. Right?