And last year they were all saying some variation on “don’t worry, AI is not going to cost anyone their jobs.”
Key take away for anyone is to never trust what an executive is saying. Much like a politician, if their lips are moving they are probably lying.
Important technologies are almost always important because they result in a net decrease in the amount of human labor needed. The industrial revolution never would have happened if automation didn’t result in huge labor savings. If a technology is merely a different way to do what could be done before without the same amount of effort, there’s no reason to adopt it.
Quantitate unemployment data doesn’t support that claim. Taking the US for example, that nation has unemployment stats going back to the 1950’s, which captures the onset of computers and the onset of the internet. Both which massively disrupted many industries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_in_the_United_States
Despite that, the U3 unemployment rate (the rate that gets reported in the news), has mostly hovered around 5%, with peaks around recession periods.
You’re right, people adopt the tech to save time and money. But that also often means that people and businesses invest that savings into other business ventures that will allow the business to grow.
If you’re only focused on efficiency and cost cutting as a way to increase revenue, and you’re not hiring folks to work on the next thing, you’re going to hit wall of growth.
Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Unemployment in the United States discusses the causes and measures of U. S. unemployment and strategies for reducing it. Job creation and unemployment are affected by factors such as economic conditions, global competition, education, automation, and demographics. These factors can affect the number of workers, the duration of unemployment, and wage levels.
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