I think replacing my boss might be possible. The error and hallucination quota seems similar.
While very different in some ways, some parallels between the AI-driven layoffs and the offshore outsourcing layoffs of the mid-2000s are striking.
Ultimately both scenarios were/are driven by corporate greed. And it looks like the AI one is backfiring for many of the same reasons as the offshore one.
They are replacing experienced staff who have strong critical thinking abilities and hands-on knowledge, and the replacements lack the institutional knowledge and the ability to look at the big picture, and they substitute speed for methodological discernment.
Time is cyclical.
Agentic AI. I always cringe a little when I hear that term.
Shocker. Just another excuse to fire higher paid workers, point at a line going up (until it doesn’t), say AI a lot, and then hire lower paid workers for the same (or worse now fighting AI in some cases) job.
“Yeah, lets’t get of the knowledge of how our stuff actually works and replace it with a statistics fueled computer, woo, AI all the way!”
This is what pisses me off the most, the willful disregard for knowledge and skills in organizations.
If you don’t have the knowledge or skills, specific to your oranizations needs, then you can’t evaluate if the AI is doing a good job.
If every company is using the same few AIs, they’re basically the same company. Everything unique about them will deteriorate until it’s just corporate grey goo.
Like, no shit the plagiarism machine that cannot create anything truly novel and can only regurgitate other people’s already existing work can’t replace professionals. I legitimately hope all of these companies go under.
Oh, and now you need a new fucking degree to learn how to ‘optimize your token usage with well crafted prompts the machine can understand’ otherwise you’ll burn through the energy Cleveland uses in a year, and end up costing the company millions.
Dumbest fucking bubble so far other than tulips and beanie babies
No it’s dumber. Beanie babies at least left you with a little doll kids could enjoy.
Oh, and now you need a new fucking degree to learn how to ‘optimize your token usage
In some companies, ‘optimize your token usage’ means using as many tokens as possible.
Indeed.
“AI is good” became “Good employees use AI” became “The more AI the better” became “The more tokens used the better the employee.”
What’s incredible is that none of these are self-evidently true premises, but rich C-suite aliens managed to buy into the entire illogical chain.
Two things…
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Is…is Cleveland known for high energy usage? I don’t get the reference.
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Tulips had a bubble? I’m so confused.
Go for the flowers, stay for the etymology of fictional country names
TIL the two countries in The Princess Bride are both named after a Dutch currency
Ah, it happened in 1634. That’s why I hadn’t heard of this. I wasn’t born yet for a few more years.
I think he just picked a decently big town as an example, and Dutch tulips were the very first stock craze.
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Thing is, they CAN replace “professionals” — which is 80% of the population. They won’t replace the original thinkers, of which there are relatively few.
And most original thinkers aren’t feeling threatened by AI, as they can figure out something new to do.
I mean, I remember college. I remember how many people graduated without an original thought in their heads, focused only on getting the credentials to land their dream job. Those are the people generative AI is coming for.
Has it made life more difficult? Yes. Is it a magic wand that will make companies rich without human investment? Absolutely not. At the end of the day, it’s just making the baseline of human knowledge accessible to the highest bidders, with a bit of randomness and sycophancy thrown in. Which is a step up from confident BS with a bit of randomness and sycophancy thrown in.
CEOs are getting their pockets filled so, yeah, I think its exactly the way companies think.
