People Do Not Yearn for Automation

iicco about 2 hours ago 10 commentsRead Article on theverge.com

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Discussion (10 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

fmajid•about 2 hours ago

People totally do want to offload the drudgery. That's why there is such a thing as dishwashers, and why OpenAI has 90 million users. But they also want the drudgery to be done reliably and not require as much work checking as it would have doing it in the first place.

pxc•8 minutes ago

[delayed]

ironmagma•about 1 hour ago

Drudgery is not as much drudgery when there is variety. I think a lot of people who see their work as "drudgery" actually just are forced to do one thing and never even think about doing a second thing during their day.

themafia•29 minutes ago

Then use AI to make a dishwasher. Why aim for accounting first?

It's easy to get users. Speaking of accounting we should probably just measure profits.

watwut•about 1 hour ago

Majority of AI use people encounter has zero to do with "automating drudgery" and a lot to do with "producing slop fast and cheap".

preommr•about 2 hours ago

Obviously not.

People don't care about the tech, they care about the second-order effects like cheaper prices, and more flexibility.

Also, the article is way too broad, you can't treat automation and it's applications in law along with just "vibes" about how people feel about AI.

rogue7•27 minutes ago

Agreed for cheaper prices and more flexibility. At least this is what we think we want. But do we actually want it ? A computer 40 years ago was way more expensive than now. How did people do it ? They managed. How do we do it now ? We manage, similarly.

Was there an improvement in things ? Obviously, computers are more powerful for example. But with less powerful computers, people could also be happy I believe.

I remember 15 years ago, tech has obviously evolved a lot since then, and I have learned to use more and more tech tools. But am I more efficient than then ? Happier than back then ? More skilled than back then ?

- More efficient for some things, less efficient for others. - Happier ? no. Not sadder either, similar. If anything, it's not related. - More Skilled ? No. Skilled at other things. For example my handwriting is still ok but I believe I won't be able to write so much or so quickly or so well as I used to (I should try though).

Am I saying that progress is not real ? No, of course not. Progress happens. But is it what "people" want or need ? Taking my own perspective : if it happens (and it does), I adapt - no problem. If it does not happen somehow - then I would adapt too. That's what we do.

E-Reverance•about 1 hour ago

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if journalist are getting high on their own supply of resentment and fear mongering

E-Reverance•about 2 hours ago

Maybe a nitpicky HN comment, but why are we lumping the term automation with very recent grievances about certain kinds of automation

kristianc•about 2 hours ago

The article literally draws that distinction in the first paragraph.

E-Reverance•about 2 hours ago

It does?

" Software brain is powerful stuff. It’s a way of thinking that basically created our modern world. Marc Andreessen, the literal embodiment of software brain, called it in 2011 when he wrote the piece “Why software is eating the world” as an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. But software thinking has been turbocharged by AI in a way that I think helps explain the enormous gap between how excited the tech industry is about the technology and how regular people are growing to dislike it more and more over time. "

pixl97•about 2 hours ago

I mean, even going back, people had all kinds of problems with all kinds of automations, e.g. Luddites and the subsequent starving in the streets.

I mean, I would think the opposite it the truth.

Other than a few masochist CEOs, most people don't like having to work for a living to ensure they don't starve and are homeless. It's just in the current paradigm it's what we have do to. And because we have to do it, people get really nervous when rich people attempt to replace human work with automation. Not because we won't have to work, but because we will have to starve.

lamasery•40 minutes ago

People want their bills and chores eliminated. Show them tech that does that and you'll be every working person's favorite human being. They'll be naming their kids after you.

They wouldn't mind their jobs being eliminated, except for that whole bills thing. Eliminate their jobs without eliminating their bills and they'll hate you.

E-Reverance•about 2 hours ago

People not wanting their jobs be automated is different from not yearning for automation as a principle. Most people want or (at least don't mind) elevators, tap water, dishwashers, traffic lights, electrical fuses, sliding doors, etc. Its a very general term

slantaclaus•about 2 hours ago

The dream of automation will never die

Insanity•about 1 hour ago

And our automations dream of electric sheep :).

I think there's a more general negative sentiment against AI (a specific type of automation) in recent months. I mean, people are trying to burn down Altman's house. The average person who follows tech news might be more reluctant about automation than before. But there'll always be technologists who push for automation at any cost.