I heard that there would be a new Great Depression.
I’ve also heard a lot of different theories, and one of them interested me: after the bursting of the bubble, AI will not disappear anywhere, is it in vain that so many data centers were built? AI will be embedded everywhere, people won’t even be able to test how it works, “it works somehow, great!” because all human workers will be fired, not at once, of course, but gradually, In a few years, about 2-7 years to be exact(depending on the industry). And because of this, AI systems will begin to get out of control, this will cause incorrect diagnoses, failures in the banking system, arresting or killing innocent people by drones, and so on.
The reason I’ve explained this so poorly is because, in the first place, the topic of AI and the debate around it is terribly infuriating to me, and it’s obvious that the harm from AI won’t be able to compensate for the little benefit it will bring. Secondly, I use a translator, so my text may seem crooked, unnatural, or silly.
Of course industrial robots have always existed, but technology is much better now, and we have AI to power them now. These aren’t your grandpappy’s robots.
The combination of automation and AI is going to lead to the elimination of entire human powered industries. The technology currently exists to automate EVERY fast food outlet in the country, and every one of those companies already has a system ready to roll out. The only reason they haven’t is because nobody wants to deal with the backlash when it happens. But once it does, the rest are going to follow, quickly. A lot of these jobs are first jobs, second household incomes, retirement supplements, etc. The loss of those jobs will be felt deeply.
How many people are supplementing their income with driving a ride share? How many older workers are doing that after losing their jobs? Both Uber and Lyft make it very clear on their website that they intend to replace their ENTIRE fleets with autonomous vehicles, which are nothing more than AI powered robots. These are people who aren’t on the unemployment rolls because they have managed to scrape together driving to work. Without this, they go right back to being on the unemployment rolls.
I just saw a report on autonomous trucks, predicting 170,000 on the roads with a few years. That’s 170,000 lost truck driving jobs. What are those professional drivers going to pivot to?
AI/ Automation won’t replace every job, but we will eventually have to live with a permanent unemployment rate over 50%, and if they could figure out to replace EVERY job, they would, enthusiastically.