Do you think AI lead to vast unemployment?

[strongbad]

Overall I think that it will drastically affect employment, but I don't know it will necessarily be a problem. Yeah, AI taking our jobs has been a concern for 200 years and employment has remained relatively stable, but I really think that is not sound reasoning for the future. Tech along with our lifestyle is increasing so quickly that I think that this is much more of a threat than ever.

I don't think it necessarily has to be bad, and I do think that technology can lead to more jobs in certain areas, through things like Uber, where the barriers that lead to employment are being broken down.

what u think

[ME##]

AI takes jobs from low-earners in entry level, manual labour positions which furthers the need to obtain a 100k+ piece of paper.  This glut of new college grads will find it increasingly difficult to get into their field of choice, meaning more college educated retail staff.  So employment may not be affected in terms of number, but the quality of life goes down with the low wages of retail coupled with mass debt.

[Kalahari Inkantation]

gradually, but i don't necessarily think it's a bad thing in the long term

i'm a proponent of raising the minimum wage precisely because it'll accelerate the complete automation of low-skill employment

[spoiler][/spoiler]

these sorts of scare tactics make me giggle

[silvertone]

automation always  creates more jobs than it destr0ys

[Daddy]

The argument is made with every new technology that renders a particular skillset no longer of value in the marketplace.


Various technological and efficiency improvments killed factory jobs but most people found jobs elsewhere

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html

Other than obvious recessions and the great depression, the US unemployment rate (not withstanding changes in the calculation) has pretty much hovered around "full employment" for almost 100 years. This is despite claims that robots wiill kill jobs, computers will kill jobs, the liver cancer will kill Jobs, etc.

[strongbad]

The argument is made with every new technology that renders a particular skillset no longer of value in the marketplace.


Various technological and efficiency improvments killed factory jobs but most people found jobs elsewhere

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html

Other than obvious recessions and the great depression, the US unemployment rate (not withstanding changes in the calculation) has pretty much hovered around "full employment" for almost 100 years. This is despite claims that robots wiill kill jobs, computers will kill jobs, the liver cancer will kill Jobs, etc.

that's a fallacy in it's own right though
just because it hasn't happened yet doesnt mean that it isnt going too
especially when you look at how fast tech and ai in particular is improving and becoming cheaper, it's more likely now than ever

[snoorkel]

you know what happens when robots start doing all the work?

we finally have an opportunity to create a society where no one works and everyone eats.

[don't let's]

Yes. Though at some point we'll be able to scan our brains into the computers and become become some sort of AI hybrid eventually to be replaced with full AI as the generations go about, and be able to do away with and escape the limitations of our fragile flesh bodies.

[strongbad]

you know what happens when robots start doing all the work?

we finally have an opportunity to create a society where no one works and everyone eats.

yeah
sadly nothing remotely close to this idea is on any politicians mind
it is one of two potential futures where AI does everything
in the other one 1% of people are super wealthy and the rest are in poverty

[Kalahari Inkantation]

http://www.investors.com/politics/policy/wendys-serves-up-kiosks-as-wages-rise-hits-fast-food-group/

i mean does anybody have a problem with this really

sanders doesn't go far enough, i say we boost the minimum wage to $20/h to accelerate the inevitable process of automation

[6M69I69B9]

i want to boost minimum wage to 100 dollars

[squirrelfriend]

i think a significant portion of boyah will be unemployed at least
robots are easily replaceable ;-;

[ME##]

you know what happens when robots start doing all the work?

we finally have an opportunity to create a society where no one works and everyone eats.

wall-e future has been realised

[Ezloﺕ]

accelerationism is a meme

[Daddy]

i think a significant portion of boyah will be unemployed at least
robots are easily replaceable ;-;

Not really.

Even ignoring the fact that a very small minitority of users are in jobs that can be easily replaced by robots, the distribution of jobs is the only thing that would be replaced.

Just like a lot of domestic factory jobs were replaced by machinery (or offshored), many of the lost jobs simply moved to other industries--namely the service industry.

And as mentioned earlier, I don't think even ardent socialists or living wage advocates are for keeping jobs around if they can easily, and cheaply, be replaced by technology.

Replace 90% of the fastfood workers with Kiosks. It's going to be years, if ever, that all can be replaced to take orders. Sometimes the kiosk won't work.  Or there will be some situation where the kiosk won't be able to process an order that a human would need to note. 

Assume 100% of all fast food workers get displaced my machines. Ok, cool. I honestly doubt that sit-down restaurant service will be largely replaced by technology.  There might be niche restaurants, but overall, people will want other people serving them.  Otherwise it's essentially getting takeout and using their dining space.



There will always be a demand somewhere after tech displaces jobs.  Travel and other leisure industries are other sectors that would grow as demand in many sectors change. People will have more vacation time or away from work in that case, causing a shift in demand.


I've seen nothing to convince me that increases in technology will cause any significant job loss.