Impact of A.I

“Gandalf the white” raised some interesting points regarding impact of AI. This is my response. Take it as an intellectual thought exercise.

Possibility 1: Employment Goes

Companies replace human labour with AI. But employees are also consumers: removing wages also

threatens the markets that companies sell to.

Counter:

No, employment does not go away.

It is more likely changes the nature of employment or what people would call being employed. This is because AI has not yet solved ALL the problems. Just because it “looks like” it solves the current set of problems doesn’t mean it will solve all the FUTURE problems we will inevitably uncover. We are not good at predicting what the next frontier will be. And it likely has elements that AI cannot solve autonomously. These hard problems will still need resources both intellectual and physical and wages of some form still is going to be around.

Possibility 2: Companies go

Consumers bypass firms and ask AI to produce what they actually want. Robotics extends this into

physical production. The commercial, financial, legal and administrative structures built around urban

exchange begin to unwind.

Counter:

No, not all consumers know what to Ask AI 🤖. It’s like asking for wishes to a genie 🧞‍♂️. It gives you what you ask. But do you really understand what you asking for? There will be companies to assist and solve the problems for consumers just as before.

Possibility 3: Even the family may go

Embodied AI may become a friend, carer or loved one. For some, dependence on human

companionship becomes optional, even though biological reproduction remains a separate matter.

Counter:

Yes this is likely to happen but the family unit need not necessarily go away, just becomes accommodating of artificial digital and physical personas.