Will A.I. Kill Meaningless Jobs?

[webecedarian]

Will A.I. Kill Meaningless Jobs?
And is that so bad?
By Emma Goldberg

He suggested that the economist John Maynard Keynes?s dream of a 15-hour workweek had never come to pass because humans have invented millions of jobs so useless that even the people doing them can?t justify their existence. A quarter of the work force in rich countries sees their jobs as potentially pointless, according to a study by the Dutch economists Robert Dur and Max van Lent. If workers find the labor dispiriting, and the work adds nothing to society, what?s the argument for keeping these jobs?

The stakes of that question have heightened as artificial intelligence hurtles forward, bringing with it the specter of job displacement...

But whether or not these jobs provide a sense of existential purpose, they do provide reliable salaries. Many of the meaningless jobs that A.I. could overtake have traditionally opened up these white-collar fields to people who need opportunities and training, serving as accelerants for class mobility: paralegals, secretaries, assistants. Economists worry that when those jobs disappear, the ones that replace them will bring lower pay, fewer opportunities to professionally ascend and ? even less meaning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/03/b...4.%20Leer%20en

[hadaso]

So far AI introduced a new variety of a meaningless job: "prompt engineer".
To understand why people want (or need) meaningless jobs one should watch "The Matrix".

[Bamb0]

AI is dangerous and shoudnt be used!!!!!

[TenFour]

Maybe AI will displace some humans at meaningless jobs, but what is to stop the leaders of these companies from just creating more meaningless work for the AI? Me, I've never worked at a meaningless job and the companies I have worked for were so small, or sometimes just myself, that I never did just one little thing all the time. I am an accomplished generalist who can do everything in most workplaces, and often did do everything. Small businesses need people who are like that. One day you are leading the board meeting, but afterwards you might have to fix the copier, clean up the mess, make the coffee, and then lock up the building.

[somdcomputerguy]

I've watched two episodes (all that's available on that platform)
on Tubi TV.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=AI%3A+The+Last+Invention

- Bruce

[webecedarian]

Originally Posted by TenFour

Maybe AI will displace some humans at meaningless jobs, but what is to stop the leaders of these companies from just creating more meaningless work for the AI? Me, I've never worked at a meaningless job and the companies I have worked for were so small, or sometimes just myself, that I never did just one little thing all the time. I am an accomplished generalist who can do everything in most workplaces, and often did do everything. Small businesses need people who are like that. One day you are leading the board meeting, but afterwards you might have to fix the copier, clean up the mess, make the coffee, and then lock up the building.

But it doesn't matter if there's more meaning work created for A.I., right? It's not like the A.I. is going to get bored and quit.

[chrisretusn]

I tend to thing there are no meanness jobs, aside from many "upper" management positions and HRO positions.

[pjroutledge]

I can think of a few examples of meaningless jobs - or at least the kind of jobs that I would like AI to do for me.

Laundry, ironing, cleaning the bathroom, etc

I don't want AI that does the creative stuff, like art, writing, coding, etc. I want AI to relieve me of the meaningless drudgery so that I can spend more time on the creative stuff.

[TenFour]

I think there is a real danger in letting AI do stuff for you that you consider meaningless. For example, I already see that many people simply can't navigate the world without their smartphones telling them where to go. Humans quickly lose abilities they don't practice. It isn't meaningless when you're on a hike and you lose the smartphone signal, or the network goes down like it did yesterday for Verizon.

[hadaso]

Originally Posted by pjroutledge

I can think of a few examples of meaningless jobs - or at least the kind of jobs that I would like AI to do for me.

Laundry, ironing, cleaning the bathroom, etc
...

So you want Rosey...

[chrisretusn]

Originally Posted by pjroutledge

I can think of a few examples of meaningless jobs - or at least the kind of jobs that I would like AI to do for me.

Laundry, ironing, cleaning the bathroom, etc

The "AI" would have to meet or exceed my wife's standards. I am pretty sure "AI" will fail.

[chrisretusn]

Originally Posted by TenFour

I think there is a real danger in letting AI do stuff for you that you consider meaningless. For example, I already see that many people simply can't navigate the world without their smartphones telling them where to go. Humans quickly lose abilities they don't practice. It isn't meaningless when you're on a hike and you lose the smartphone signal, or the network goes down like it did yesterday for Verizon.

Agree. I suspect reading maps is already a lost art. Are maps even for sale anymore? For example at gas stations. I do know Rand McNally still publishes maps. Even some "professional" drivers get themselves in a bind by relying on their GPS. Here in the Philippines one use to find maps of various locations, I have not seen maps for sale in a long time.

[TenFour]

Maps are still available many places and I carry a bunch in my car. Sure, I use phones to navigate, but seeing the big picture on a map is so helpful.

[chrisretusn]

Good to here maps are still being sold. I have some old maps that used to be in my glove box. I rely to much on GPS and here it's not all that accurate. It is getting better though.

[dryoldlime]

Originally Posted by chrisretusn

Good to here maps are still being sold. I have some old maps that used to be in my glove box. I rely to much on GPS and here it's not all that accurate. It is getting better though.

One thing about paper maps is that in from few to several years, they become obsolete- or I mean, physical arrangements change, and this renders some parts of the maps incorrect.