I don't care if it's "intelligent", I don't care if it "has a mind". I don't care if it is "really reasoning", I don't care if it "understands". I don't care if it is "sentient" or "conscious".
None of this matters for the practical outcome.
You'd think that this has been understood over the last 4 years, but apparently it keeps circling back to this.
[Edit: I see that it was written back in 2023. Then (2023) should be added in the submission title]
If it generates functional output that works, then it works. And it works. It's not a psychic's con when it outputs Lean-verified proofs. It isn't a con when it can find and exploit zero-days.
The OP is still in the "denial" phase. Most I see are already in "anger" (a blurry fury against everything AI-shaped, from vague reasons piling on all "bad stuff" political reasons they already hated before) or "bargaining" (mathematicians scrambling to come up with a new definition of their job and retcon that it was always the main part anyway). A few are already in "depression" and feel like spectators on the Titanic, and the tiniest sliver is at "acceptance" with some kind of well-informed plan for their future.
I’m not sure acceptance buys you much. “Well-informed plan” at this stage feels like a useless exercise. It is changing fast, and the world only needs so many electricians. Besides, I don’t think “accepting” the fact that these big companies are pillaging human contribution and selling it back to us is good, even if “it works”.
Maybe I'm just light on imagination or something, but I honestly wonder what you would qualify as a "well-informed plan" in the current scenario? I've thought a lot about it and the whole "potential for the mass unemployment of knowledge workers" thing makes a lot of planning kind of useless IMO. If you are affected, it's going to be a bad time. If you're unaffected, the people who are will inundate your profession with cheap labor anyway.
My mental model is that humans will continue to be needed. Many jobs will embed AI in them. Using AI well is a skill. I need to understand the technology, where it is strong and weak, and how it develops over time so I can employ it effectively in my work, and advise others on how to do so. Basically, I need to learn how to be skilled with it. This is tough because things are changing rapidly, so I have to invalidate my cache when advancements happen. This means staying curious, not settling into a specific work pattern, but rather experimenting regularly to see how I can leverage AI in my work.
You do you. Just carry on blacksmithing in your forge. People are always going to need swords right? Any seismic changes to society that change that fact can only be the result of evil, selfish people which surely someone else will put a stop to before you find yourself out of a job. Meanwhile all the other people called Smith also have families to feed...
> It is changing fast, and the world only needs so many electricians
I don't know about that. We're going through maybe the biggest wave of electrification and growth demand in history. Electricians are still quite expensive for regular people to hire. There's lots of room for growth.
bonoboTP · · focus · HN ↗
None of this matters for the practical outcome.
You'd think that this has been understood over the last 4 years, but apparently it keeps circling back to this.
[Edit: I see that it was written back in 2023. Then (2023) should be added in the submission title]
If it generates functional output that works, then it works. And it works. It's not a psychic's con when it outputs Lean-verified proofs. It isn't a con when it can find and exploit zero-days.
The OP is still in the "denial" phase. Most I see are already in "anger" (a blurry fury against everything AI-shaped, from vague reasons piling on all "bad stuff" political reasons they already hated before) or "bargaining" (mathematicians scrambling to come up with a new definition of their job and retcon that it was always the main part anyway). A few are already in "depression" and feel like spectators on the Titanic, and the tiniest sliver is at "acceptance" with some kind of well-informed plan for their future.
devin · · focus · HN ↗
kerabatsos · · focus · HN ↗
devin · · focus · HN ↗
rpdillon · · focus · HN ↗
devin · · focus · HN ↗
rpdillon · · focus · HN ↗
FearNotDaniel · · focus · HN ↗
devin · · focus · HN ↗
triceratops · · focus · HN ↗
I don't know about that. We're going through maybe the biggest wave of electrification and growth demand in history. Electricians are still quite expensive for regular people to hire. There's lots of room for growth.