AI being helpful thread

[3930dave]

Long, but of interest to those following the AI Safety debates....

Looking here, at current job ads on Indeed.... still plenty of skilled-trades (for now), but the last year or so has an explosion of AI Training Data jobs.... Temp, of course

Saw this briefly, in the lunchroom @ Work recently. I haven't watched TV @ Home in a long time, so until I dug up the Wiki listing, I didn't realize how old Life After People was..... 3'rd season just dropped this Summer.

Life After People - Wikipedia

I haven't had the time/inclination (so do appreciate the posts on-here) to play with prompts, but it would be interesting to see what responses AGI gives on If/How Training Data is guard-railed.....

IF it currently is, I'm aware that won't last for long.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Oaktree]

I'm no expert, but I can think of a dozen without trying:

• Building power plants
• operating power plants
• maintaining power plants and infrastructure
• building data centers
• working in data centers
• maintaining data centers
• Processor engineering
• Data systems engineering
• neural network engineering
• Circuit board layout
• Manufacturing of data center hardware
• Manufacturing of power distribution hardware

I could probably go on for an hour...

Many/most of which are relatively small fields employment-wise, and/or are susceptable themselves to being replaced by AI.

I think some people miss what I think the point of this thread is. Its not a philosophical argument; its here, so use it, or don't, but you can't stop change. I take the approach of, I need to learn to take advantage of its usefulness. If you are no longer in the work force, or are exiting in next 3-5 years, hiding is an option. Ive got 25-30 years left to work, and hiding isnt at option

I don't really "get" AI and what it entails, but I'm in the "no longer in the workforce" category, so hiding is a viable option.
I feel bad for guys your age or a bit older. The workplace of the not very distant future is a world away from the one I spent most of my career in. Tough to adapt when you're 50 and get thrust out into the cold...age discrimination is a very real thing, and experience isn't as valued as it once was. Gotta say, I'm not even sure how you'd go about getting a job these days...finding out about openings, Zoom interviews, etc. Glad I don't need to deal with it.

For quite some time we have been hearing that kids graduating college with multiple degrees can't find a job that pays a 'living' wage. That's not AI's fault. That's the failure of the education and social structures.
We still need tradesmen. We need people to build things, to service things, and to fix things. Physical work producing tangible results.
Did we really think that 10 million art school diplomas would feed a generation?

I think you're over-simplifying things a bit. Yes, we need people in the trades, but it's hard work and takes a long time to master. Good opportunity for someone just starting out (and there seems to be renewed interest in the trades among the younger generation), not so much for someone middle-aged who just lost his job in a declining field. Not for everyone, never was.
Yes, there are some who have relatively useless degrees, and I don't feel much sympathy for them, but there are plenty of others who have degrees in something that was in demand 15-20 years ago but aren't so much anymore.

I don't know what you do for a living, but I hope it sustains you for as long as you want to work.

 

[Oaktree]

I will say, if I am a C or D grade "creative" type, I would be looking to either upgrade to a B or A, or start looking at exit options

You overlook the fact that not everyone can be in the top half of the class.

 

[DarkBlack]

Ok, so that displaces 3 guys on a 8 man crew? You still need guys shoveling sand, even if the machine mixes mortar; you still need materials staged, you still have to deliver, and set up the robot. You still need guys cutting end bricks; cleaning, ect.

I would be interested to see how the robot deals with out of square slabs, weather conditions, variables in material, ect. Not saying it can't deal with them, just curious how well programmers understand construction, and just how imperfect it is?

Also, curious how cost effective it is. Will it improve, sure, will it displace some people, probably.

Kinda like nail guns might have displaced some framers, but that doesnt mean nail guns are evil

That’s simply a robotic arm programmed to lay bricks. That kind of technology has been in use for 40 years. It’s not an example of artificial intelligence

 

[Oaktree]

Again, I'm not saying this is a bad thing or a thing to be feared, but.... sooner rather than later there are going to be fewer jobs due to automation. What are those people going to do for employment?

What are the future job fields that are expanding faster than automation, and will there be enough of those jobs to sustain society?

Which is what I was asking a couple pages back, and got a lot of snarky answers.

The fact that there may be 100,000 new jobs in AI programming doesn't help some 50 year old guy who just got laid off an assembly line job.

 

[scootr]

Many/most of which are relatively small fields employment-wise, and/or are susceptable themselves to being replaced by AI.

I don't really "get" AI and what it entails, but I'm in the "no longer in the workforce" category, so hiding is a viable option.
I feel bad for guys your age or a bit older. The workplace of the not very distant future is a world away from the one I spent most of my career in. Tough to adapt when you're 50 and get thrust out into the cold...age discrimination is a very real thing, and experience isn't as valued as it once was. Gotta say, I'm not even sure how you'd go about getting a job these days...finding out about openings, Zoom interviews, etc. Glad I don't need to deal with it.


I think you're over-simplifying things a bit. Yes, we need people in the trades, but it's hard work and takes a long time to master. Good opportunity for someone just starting out, not so much for someone middle-aged who just lost his job in a declining field. Not for everyone, never was.
Yes, there are some who have relatively useless degrees, and I don't feel much sympathy for them, but there are plenty of others who have degrees in something that was in demand 15-20 years ago but aren't so much anymore.

I don't know what you do for a living, but I hope it sustains you for as long as you want to work.

I'm retiring from a self made business that 'sustained' me for 15 yrs. Self made because I was obsolete from construction management after 35 yrs of tradesman work in about 10 of the 15 fields prior to 5 yrs management before the bottom dropped out in 08-09.
Yes, I like to take a simple view. I believe people make life too complicated. Maybe they can't find work because they are too limited in what they are willing to learn. I always found work when I needed it from mopping floors to managing construction projects.

 

[MossRoad]

… and company overhead goes down, the cost reduction of which allows lower pricing to compete with domestic or foreign competitors, eventually increasing affordability and then demand. Increased demand yields increased workload in other areas, and company eventually needs to hire more than 6 new employees. Circle of life.

That rarely happens.

 

[paulsharvey]

You also need to look back at "revolutionary" tech over time. Internet, realistically 1995 or so; took 20 years to get to the point of wide spread online shopping, Teams, ect. Phone, took about 50 years to get to 50% adoption in home; AC power, 40 years. Did they end up being huge, yes, but nobody woke up one day and you are in the internet age, steam age, the AI age, ect. We are in the learn, adopt, and figure it out stage right now. AI will try and fail in many niches, be hige successes in others, and see moderate use in others.

Another aspect, the whole system has to grow together. Fiber networks dont keep up, that slows its use. Legal issues, politics, mergers, power consumption, physical limitations on chips, ect. Then we have the next hurdle, Monetization. Like early internet, right now, its largely funded by speculation. At some point, it needs revenue to exceed expenses, both operating, and R&D.

 

[MossRoad]

You overlook the fact that not everyone can be in the top half of the class.

About half....

 

[MossRoad]

That’s simply a robotic arm programmed to lay bricks. That kind of technology has been in use for 40 years. It’s not an example of artificial intelligence