AI and the Economy

[Pexbo]

I’d like to keep this thread hypothetical although I appreciate that’s virtually impossible and the usual AI skeptics will be in here to tell us that ChatGPT gets things wrong and AI has no real world applications - continue use the other AI thread for that.

This is more philosophical and ideally is discussed on this premise:

Sam Altman is rumoured to be briefing Congress on an AI breakthrough where they have achieved a level of AGI, with a PHD level super agent. In short, it’s an AI which can replace a skilled technical human to do complex tasks.

Mark Zuckerberg believes they will be replacing all mid-level software engineers with AI starting this year.

The likelihood is that this isn’t going to be limited to Software development and will could be a disruptor like we have not seen since the Industrial Revolution. Lawyers, Architects, Chemists, Data Scientists, Media editors, content creators the list goes on and on.


So if middle to upper earners are suddenly made redundant in their droves, what happens to the economy? Who is going have the money to actually buy the products AI is making?

 

[Massive Spanner]

I’d like to keep this thread hypothetical although I appreciate that’s virtually impossible and the usual AI skeptics will be in here to tell us that ChatGPT gets things wrong and AI has no real world applications - continue use the other AI thread for that.

This is more philosophical and ideally is discussed on this premise:

Sam Altman is rumoured to be briefing Congress on an AI breakthrough where they have achieved a level of AGI, with a PHD level super agent. In short, it’s an AI which can replace a skilled technical human to do complex tasks.

Mark Zuckerberg believes they will be replacing all mid-level software engineers with AI starting this year.

The likelihood is that this isn’t going to be limited to Software development and will could be a disruptor like we have not seen since the Industrial Revolution. Lawyers, Architects, Chemists, Data Scientists, Media editors, content creators the list goes on and on.


So if middle to upper earners are suddenly made redundant in their droves, what happens to the economy? Who is going have the money to actually buy the products AI is making?

I don’t think that’s what Zuckerberg actually said (replacing people) but I guess we can all draw our own conclusions.

I think a lot of the big tech companies are already preparing for it, you can see it by the fact that they never hire grads or do internships anymore. I honestly think our generation could be the last to have long term engineering careers (and that’s being optimistic) and in a few years experienced people like me probably won’t even be writing much code, just planning and working with customers and such, almost like PMs.

Tech is in a weird bubble right now and it’s definitely going to burst. The salaries are obscene and the companies are going to do everything they can to stop it.

Ai writing code that’s reviewed by other Ai could truly be end times though, I do think it’s incredibly dangerous path to go down, but if it kills Meta and that cnut at least that’s a plus.

 

[Revan]

I don’t think that’s what Zuckerberg actually said (replacing people) but I guess we can all draw our own conclusions.

I think a lot of the big tech companies are already preparing for it, you can see it by the fact that they never hire grads or do internships anymore. I honestly think our generation could be the last to have long term engineering careers (and that’s being optimistic) and in a few years experienced people like me probably won’t even be writing much code, just planning and working with customers and such, almost like PMs.

Tech is in a weird bubble right now and it’s definitely going to burst. The salaries are obscene and the companies are going to do everything they can to stop it.

Ai writing code that’s reviewed by other Ai could truly be end times though, I do think it’s incredibly dangerous path to go down, but if it kills Meta and that cnut at least that’s a plus.

Companies are hiring interns though. Right now, I have 6 interns, and one starting in a couple of months. I know lots of FAANG companies who are getting interns. But I agree that the numbers are lower than a few years ago. And the entry barrier is getting higher.

I think your post is very logical but cannot help but think that the last part to really make AI is going to be a bit harder than what people are thinking. Or at least, that is the hopium I am selling to myself.

Saying that, I mostly agree with your general point but think that the timeline will be a bit longer. Similarity, I wouldn’t advice people to study computer science right now, albeit, I hope there will be computer science for a long time, but maybe quite a bit different.

Ultimately, I think there are going to be lots of unknown unknowns going ahead that are going to affect the economy in unimaginable ways. And that, assuming that a super intelligence is not going to just kill us in the first place. But again, not this decade.