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by throw310822 726 days ago
Wow. I am astounded by this inability to think in perspective.

"This technology is already 2 years old, I don't see any societal changes yet, it must be much ado about nothing" must be one of the most superficial takes about technology I've ever read. Really, come on.

Just two things to consider:

1- it takes people and societies a long time to integrate and react to the possibilities offered by new technologies. A time easily measured in years, sometimes in decades.

2- the technology is rapidly evolving- faster than society is actually able to absorb it. Two years are really nothing. A child who was born the day GPT 2 was released has just started primary school, and will enter the job market between 15 and 20 years from today.

2 comments

Thanks for sharing your perspective, it’s broadened my own. I’m pro-ai, I believe in the potential. I was asking if GPTs or image generators have replaced human jobs yet. The loss of jobs seems like an over reaction. I personally think like all major tech breakthroughs it will create industries/markets not previously possible.
Like any other tech, this will replace some jobs. The question is if it will generate more jobs than it replaces. And my take is that no, intellectual work is finished. In a few years any job that has information as an output will be doable by machines. Tech so far has always freed people from manual work and forced them to climb up the ladder of education and intellectual and creative work, where machines had no reach. Now we are perched at the very top of the ladder and machines are climbing the last steps. There's nowhere else to go in that direction. The kinds of work that will be spared are those that require embodiment and physical interaction.
Kinda like blockchain right? it's only been a decade, we're still trying to absorb it.
Kinda like any invention after two years: the telephone in 1878, radio in 1892, airplanes in 1905, computers in 1947, the internet and web in 1992... Had they changed the world yet? No, just stupid hype!