[soundworlds]

One of the funny parts about all of this, is that janitors are likely less threatened by GenAI than information workers are.

Hell, janitors' work is less threatened by GenAI than most of the CEOs who are super-hyped about that very same GenAI.

David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs might actually work as a roadmap of sorts..

[dinkumthinkum]

Is that so? What do janitors? They clean offices, right? What's in offices? Oh people. If no people are office workers, no offices need cleaning, no need for janitors. I think the economy is more complex than people think. It's not like "just be a plumber" is going help anyone.

[palmotea]

> One of the funny parts about all of this, is that janitors are likely less threatened by GenAI than information workers are.

But that's cold comfort, because janitors are already paid shit wages.

The insecurity about AI isn't exactly "will I keep my job?" It's "will I be thrown into a life of precarity as my skills are devalued?"

Janitors aren't threatened by GenAI, because they're already where the threats take you.

[notabotiswear]

Where would information workers go after they get booted out of their market?

Every other market where they could transfer their skills to is threatened by the same hypothetical. And if they jump the collar colour divide, they’d have be limited to the least skilled ones, which includes Janitors.

Now perhaps that would still not threaten the job itself as much, but an increase in supply definitely won’t be good for the wages.