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Comment by walkhour | Hacker News Reader

This is just the beginning and we don't know what will happen. Some people will say creative destruction is happening and people will find other jobs. They may equate this to the horse drivers finding other jobs at the beginning of the XXth century.

The truth is we don't know. People that will lose their jobs may find other jobs or not. Maybe it's harder to reinvent oneself now. Maybe a lot of people will truly suffer because of AI.

I find very hard to know with certainty what will happen, who will remain unharmed, and who will struggle but make it through, but change is coming.

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At least in the early 20th century there were a ton of jobs one could pivot to that weren't too difficult to train up for.

That isn't the case anymore. The only jobs that will remain will be skilled blue collar jobs and for how long is anyone's guess until we start getting robots with limbic dexterity and power systems to rival man.

This will speed up as well. My boss was looking for a robot arm a few years ago and got quotes; the quote for the cheapest one was not in the budget. He now bought 2 for far less that are really excellent and indeed, again, replacing real people.

We should prepare for it though. All the existential stuff with AIs killing humans I don’t think is the biggest danger. No work and no money is far more urgent. Even if it doesn’t happen, it can happen, so why not assume it will and change tactics when it’s clear it’s far more sunnier?

As long as we produce as much food and as much utilities, why would having less work to do overall bad?

Well yes, that’s the best outcome; infinite energy which means infinite everything and, with AGI, infinite intelligence. Done properly, there is no worry; we will live in paradise. No needs for ads, wars or money. But it will depend on who owns it, no?

Because “less work” means less money—and we haven’t built a society in which people can access all the food and utilities produced without it.

Because most of the entire world is structured such that not working means you don't eat, can't pay rent, and can't afford healthcare

Having less work is great, if we completely overhaul our economy so that not working is a viable way of life.

In theory it shouldn't be a problem. Under the current system resource distribution is based on production or perceived production. No job, no food.

It’s hard to prepare when we don’t have a good idea of what will happen (and I agree with the GP that we don’t at this point). Also, as usual, politics will only react after the fact.

I echo with your take. There's a lot of uncertainty, and in the meantime there's change that can be painful for some groups of professionals.

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