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Unsealed Briefs in Authors’ Case v. Microsoft/OpenAI

631 points · 623 comments · papergirl

  1. handoflixue · · focus · HN ↗
    It's wild how much weight "they're destroying jobs" has.

    I dare say that car manufacturers are aware of their impact on the horse and buggy industry. Calculator manufacturers wrecked the livelihood of mathematicians and accountants.

    Technology is in the business of putting people out of work, by inventing better ways of doing things. Or rather, any time you invent a better way of doing things, that's fundamentally going to disrupt all the businesses built around older technologies.

    1. anakaine · · focus · HN ↗
      The issue is the breadth of scale. At the time of the industrial revolution those who we would consider knowledge workers were a much smaller percentage of the population. Today, they are a significant part of the workforce, and it is them who are being displaced first, and in increasing numbers.

      The second issue is one of migration between skill sets. By the numbers, today is likely harder as non Ai-affected skilled professions take longer to train into in a general sense.

      The third is the synthesis of AI and robotics. Humanoid help is good. As the Venn diagram overlap of capabilities between humans and humanoid robots increases, many professions defined by complex vision and environmental manipulation that are currently safe will not be.

      There are, of course, upsides. But the world is right to wonder what the future looks like, and where people fit within that future in terms of earning an income if whatever path they choose seems to be able to be replaced by a machine within their lifetime. How do they achieve personal stability and safety if, even when thinking about their multitude of career options, the machines are so good that they can do almost anything.

      1. ChickeNES · · focus · HN ↗
        Personally I dream of the end of all human labor.
        1. MisterMunchkin · · focus · HN ↗
          But then what?

          Once the rich no longer need the serfs, they won’t suddenly decide to let you have things. They know they are superior to you, both genetically and socially because they inherited wealth and you didn’t. Their trust fund paid for private schools and you don’t even have a trust fund. They’re just better. It’s an objective fact. The world specifically chose to make them better than you, because it’s true.

          The only fair system is for them to have an army of robots and then quietly clean up the population, so that you aren’t a risk to them. It’s just science.

          When you’re dealing with people who think like this, who will soon have an army of terminators, what hope do we have?

          1. ChickeNES · · focus · HN ↗
            You’re arguing with a scenario you invented, then treating its most deranged conclusion as evidence.
            1. hodgehog11 · · focus · HN ↗
              I continue to be shocked at how people outright disregard these kinds of possibilities as pure science fiction. This is literally the objective of the ultrawealthy, it is the natural extrapolation of the early events of the industrial revolution projected onto a near-future world, and given current trends, the only hope of it not happening is that people everywhere realize what is happening and use our remaining capacity to steal power back. Feudalism is the natural state of mankind, and has been for thousands of years.

              I am very hopeful that such scenarios would not come to pass, but dismissing them outright puts us on the path toward them.

              1. ChickeNES · · focus · HN ↗
                Yes, I reject the premise entirely, and frankly, viewing everything solely through the lens of class power is a really poor model of the world.
                1. exe34 · · focus · HN ↗
                  This position is hilarious, because it's the class war is the only thing they want you to avoid thinking about.
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