Op-Ed: Naivete, greed, unpreparedness + stupidity = 30% job losses? THAT dumb.


By Paul Wallis
DIGITAL JOURNAL
December 25, 2024

OpenAI said its new platform Sora can generate videos up to a minute long - Copyright AFP/File Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

A brief slightly nauseated look at anything including the words “artificial intelligence job losses” will do. All of this is expected to happen within the next five years so put a down payment on your next can of baked beans now.

Given the current state of what is rather unwisely called the world, you’d think that 30% job losses would mean something to someone. That’s the most common number being bandied about regarding probable job losses due to artificial intelligence.

Even less impressively many of these losses are expected to happen in the finance sector. You know that place that’s the home of rustic morality and good old downhome values.

For some reason, somebody thinks that the extremely clunky chatbot version of artificial intelligence can handle high finance. The current attempts at AGI are nowhere near that level, let alone this primitive rubbish. They also seem to think that it can handle futures contracts, derivatives commodities, and rampant market fraud.

It’s not often that the word “dumb” can be used as a form of flattery but this is one of those cases.

Somebody also apparently thinks that you don’t need to look at your own accounts. If nothing else, it is as good an example of the sheer technological illiteracy of the business world as you could ever wish to see.

In the next five years, you can assume that the sheer unaffordability of everything will be well entrenched. This means that the Jobs Mass Extinction Event will probably synchronize nicely with the next economic meltdown, war, or whatever other entertainment happens to be available.

The probability is an economic meltdown in the market, a crash, or something else we haven’t had for a while. The same geniuses that gave you the 2008 disaster are still waddling about. The good news is that you won’t have anything like enough money to be involved in any of it.

The almost-new American national sport of bankruptcy has tragically sidelined tens of millions of people. The rest of the world isn’t really doing much better but is making less of a fuss about it.

The astonishingly naïve belief that this technology is in any way Safe For Baby Or anyone else Is truly fascinating.

Consider this:

A technology that is already famous for lying and deceptive behavior is about to be entrusted with the business of the world.

Hooked up to things like blockchain or other accounting systems AI could commit fraud on a scale to bankrupt whole countries or perhaps the world.

Add to this the fact that you would be able to do absolutely nothing about it. You are in roughly the same position as a person buying a non-existent second-hand car.

Now – Who’s a clever little collection of brainless pond scum? Guess.

Better still, AI is usually attached to unaccountable third parties. Try managing a contract dispute on the basis of AI fraud.

AI can be hacked. AI will be hacked. So far there hasn’t been a word on this subject.

Yes, if you have been somehow completely unable to ignore the 30 years of cyber fraud and cybercrime, AI is exactly what you want.

That was the fun bit. Socially it will be even more of a disaster. Somebody has apparently been doing some thinking and has managed to come up with the idea that even Universal Basic Income will not be able to manage AI job losses.

It’s academic anyway because at the moment nobody has UBI due to the total refusal of society to allow anyone the ability to afford anything. It is nice to know that somebody took the time to think of something else that wouldn’t work, though.

Now the really good news

You’re living in a world run by the sanest smartest most intelligent most forward-looking and least neurotic people in history. Intellect simply oozes out of every available crevice.

Now you’ll be able to finally make use of all those survival skills you learned from that nice hermit crab back when you could afford to pretend to be alive.

Simply use your bodily secretions to fuse all those bills into a nice shelter for yourself and your loved ones.

I suggest you start taking all these hints while you still have something to take them with.


Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.