It's not layoffs because our company sucks and our products are trash, it's because of our shift to 'AI' *stock goes up*
45
dafunkmunk14 hr ago
+19
Simply mentioning AI is an automatic double the value of your company's stock. Just look at Allbirds. Shifting front selling expensive "nice" shoes and being successful followed by cheapening the hell out of your product but keeping the prices sky high until no one buys your shoes anymore. Then say your shifting to being an AI company and your stock value triples for no legitimate reason other than they said AI.
19
takeda6412 hr ago
+2
it's also great as an excuse for cutting bonuses, 401k matching.
Companies embraced it because it lets them cut salaries. It doesn't even have to work, because people are scared.
2
Venture_compound15 hr ago
+45
We're doomed. Now I understand why my totally pro-AI brother suddenly became a big supporter of UBI. Thought he'd had a moment of clarity but nah he's just nostalgic for company towns
45
Acceptable_Bat37915 hr ago
+30
Yeah some of the pro ai crowd is realizing ubi is the only way this doesnt end with mass unrest and death
30
lanfordr14 hr ago
+25
The thing is, I don't want ubi. I want a purpose. I want something worthwhile to work towards and keep me busy.
I work in a creative field and I don't want AI telling stories for me and creating art on my behalf. I want to do that and be able to make a living doing it. I want to shafe it with the world and not be drowned out by a mountain of AI slop.
I don't think I'm alone either. If there is no work for anyone, and you try to fix it with ubi, I think you'll see depression sky rocket. We as humans need a purpose, something to drive us. Goals, dreams, and big ideas.
25
Fissionablehobo14 hr ago
+16
UBI allows people to work how they want to instead of having the boot of starvation and homelessness pressed onto their neck. They could write a book, learn to woodwork, start a family or draw furry p*** instead of having to slave away for minimum wage for people who don't give a single f*** about them. It also affords them mobility to move where they want, when they want. It would allow more people to go to school and get an education. It's quite literally freedom.
Laziness and idleness haven't materialized in any studies I've seen, quite the opposite. People don't mind working and happiness increases when they're doing something they want and the pressure of survival is blunted.
16
Acceptable_Bat37914 hr ago
+13
I think UBI would really help with that, though. Unfortunately it seems AI is coming whether we want it to or not. I agree with you, I would prefer it didn't take over art and stayed in medical and technical fields. But there is money to be made. So it seems the choice is either UBI or destitute millions being left to starve.
With UBI, it's also possible even more people could do creative pursuits. If I could scale my expenses back and live a simpler life doing hand crafted wood furniture and gardening.. i'd be all over that. UBI could just meet the minimums and we trade and create art for the extra stuff. It's unfortunate, but I think unless something drastic happens or AI flames out, the world of even 10 years ago probably isn't coming back.
13
One_Artichoke_759414 hr ago
+8
Sorry for my ignorance, but where does this UBI come from?
Wealth consolidation is only accelerating and the very same ultra wealthy wealth consolidators are laying off their employees - to capture more wealth. Wealth is a zero sum game, so when do those with all the wealth suddenly decide to offer UBI at the cost of their own wealth? The billionaire class could literally offer the entire planet UBI today, right now. So when does it come?
8
Acceptable_Bat37913 hr ago
+4
We'll have to force it, we both know it won't come willingly. Hopefully we can force it legally through the government and laws. Otherwise, millions will be wandering around hungry and that won't be good.
4
deathadder9911 hr ago
Wealth is not a zero sum game - arguably money is but money and wealth are different. We are fabulously more wealthy than we were thousands of years ago. The industrial revolution increased wealth for everyone. Especially with robotics we should be able to create things much more cheaply than before.
UBI will come in this scenario because rich people don’t want their heads chopped off, so they’ll make sure that the average person has enough to keep them happy. Plus, consumers need purchasing power to maintain companies. And if goods and services are c****, we should all (in the positive case) be better off regardless.
Wealth is only a zero sum game if the other person loses something. People can create new value out of thin air via innovation. If I suddenly find a way to grow crops 10x more efficiently, then the total wealth of everyone has increased without anyone being harmed.
The idea is that you capture the economic surplus generated by AI and robotics, tax it and distribute it. In the crop example, if I tax half of the 10x efficiency gain, then the creator is still 5x better off than before, and I have much more in terms of tax revenues. No one loses in that situation.
The easiest way to think about it is imagine that AGICorp has humanoid robots which are able to do everything humans can do, creating huge amounts of abundance. The government gets shares on your behalf, and you get a dividend of the profits.
Also worth noting, this is why the US is hellbent on winning the AI race. If you can automate your entire economy you immediately beat every other company and become the richest country in the world. Not to mention the massive looming demographic shift with not enough children to maintain social security – which is why China is pushing hard too.
0
Hardass_McBadCop10 hr ago
+3
I don't want UBI for two big reasons:
* Just like minimum wage, it will very quickly become an unacceptable level of poverty.
* I fear government abusing it to weaponize against dissenters to starve them of respurces. Very similar to how Sen. Kelly had his retirement threatened.
I mean, when has a small group in society ever gathered up all the wealth and then voluntarily redistributed it equitably? Never. I worry UBI is just a pipe dream that sounds good on paper but isn't really a solution for anything.
3
ValhirFirstThunder10 hr ago
+1
I hate people like you. Because yes I agree that SOME of us need a purpose. But not all of us. A lot of us just want to chill and enjoy life. But go getters and passion people like you project yourself on to others and romanticize PURPOSE
1
zffjk8 hr ago
+1
Which realistically “creative field” could be making cereal box art for all we know.
I work in a dry and banal field, but pursue creative works, specifically wood carving and blacksmithing, on my own time. I don’t need a pay check to keep being creative and it sounds like the poster you are responding to does.
1
Raider_Scum13 hr ago
-6
Im pro-ai (I guess).
But its because I dont believe UBI will ever come. I think the world is basically going to end in a fiery spectacle of job loss and poverty.
So im doing whatever it takes to stay employed the next 10 (or more?) years to try and buy property or something.
Im currently in poverty and if the music stops today, im fucked. But maybe if I lick enough boots, ill be able to buy ramen when unemployment hits 90%. So im using AI at work. My coworkers who refuse to are being fired.
-6
HawaiiKawaiixD12 hr ago
+5
I mean that sounds more like you being pragmatic than being pro-AI. You don’t sound like you’re cheerleading AI, just using it in hopes of not starving
5
UselessInsight11 hr ago
+5
I’m sorry to your brother but UBI is never happening.
The Epstein-Oligarch class will never agree to the taxes necessary to support it.
5
zffjk8 hr ago
+1
It is going to depend how many murder bots they have by the time we reach the tipping point.
1
ill0gitech15 hr ago
+22
Cisco announced record profits off the back of AI. Then laid of people selling AI. It’s quite impressive
22
TheHistorian212 hr ago
+7
Well, it is a convenient scapegoat.
7
Pdxduckman14 hr ago
+8
This is what your new taxpayer subsidized data centers are enabling
8
bbbbbbbbbblah10 hr ago
+3
Cisco are notorious for their layoffs regardless of how well they are doing. It used to be a once a year thing but that changed long before "AI" came along.
I'm more surprised when I hear that an old colleague of mine is still there!
3
mcflytfc14 hr ago
+6
Cisco has a long history of performing large yearly layoffs. They trim under performing business units, sometimes eliminating entire product lines. Suggesting it's for AI investment this time is just convenient.
6
Modern_Bear14 hr ago
+5
After reading the article and the quotes from these CEOs, I think it is time to just go ahead and replace the CEOs with AI. AI could easily do the same stuff they do, and without the 8 or 9 digit salaries and stock options. Nobody would notice the difference because these guys don't sound like human beings anyway. They sound like corpo trash robots, all regurgitating the same c***.
5
dachloe13 hr ago
+3
It's NOT because of AI. It's just cutting labor costs.
3
FrancoManiac14 hr ago
+2
This is going to be the Enron of the 2020s. Someone is cooking the books at these companies in order to inflate stocks, and the minute it comes to light they're going to devalue overnight.
2
blac_sheep9013 hr ago
+1
What's the endgame? Giving away jobs to AI is just going to hurt people.
28 Comments