have been thinking recently about how literally nothing works (I buy something, it breaks within days, I replace it, the cycle will only end when I die) and though that’s slightly different this really captures that late stage capitalism horror- we have all of this tech at our disposal and we can’t help ourselves but make things worse. every night I pray that ai will become irrelevant the way the metaverse did
'what was the point of automation if it doesn’t make our lives better?'
Oh but it does. It's just that you or I are not part of the 'us' as in 'our lives'. It was not made by common people nor for common people. For those whom it was made for, it makes lives better - or at least, wallets thicker.
Other than that everything you say rings true. Except the '70% of the workforce preparing to lose jobs' bit which is vaguely misleading maybe because I don't think we can claim that 70% of the work force will ACTUALLY lose jobs? Just that people are trying to build themselves safety nets because you never know. Lots of people work jobs that are still indispensable to society.
The one thing I find fascinating with the rich people's idea that they can just replace their entire workforce is......... who do they think is going to buy their product/service?
Like, I don't get how that is supposed to work. Let's say Company A's entire workforce is replaced by bots. Cool, Company A now has wildly increased profits, for a while. Its old employees end up on the dole, or worse. Companies B, C, D....... X Y Z are following suit, so whatever job openings there are are extremely scarce and difficult to get into. So masses of people are miserable, but the top brass is doing great, right? But...... for how long? Companies mostly still do not make money out of air. There is a service or a product. Even the financial slimy lizard people who literally make money out of money need the other people's money to be making the money out of.
Now let's say 100% of the work force is successfully laid off and you literally have a handful of rich people with All The Money. What then? Their service/ product is no longer getting bought because there are literally no people left with the capacity to buy. They buy from each other? There isn't enough of them. They still want to have the nice things.... do they then keep things running just for themselves, essentially Gattaca, somehow? They start funding their enterprises to continue manufacture in spite of economic loss because.... what else? That product/ service continues to exist? Like....... I don't think that is sustainable.
There is an amazing (and deeply bone-chilling) article by a guy who specializes in, like, ecology/ disaster/ survival stuff who got invited by an unnamed group of concerned billionaires to give them advice on what to do when the planet collapses. Not if, when. He suggested with all their money combined they could be working on making it maybe NOT collapse and they dismissed that out of hand, like nah, that ship has sailed, it's inevitable. What they had questions on was a) how do they build luxurious shelters that can be self-sustainable and ensure they continue to live in luxury after the rest of us are radioactive and eating each other outside. b) How do they recruit private armies to protect their fancy bunkers and make sure we don't sabotage them or come in and eat them and their fancy wine reserves and drink their infinity pool water in desperation. c) How do they create systems that let them control those private armies, making sure THEY don't turn on them and eat them instead of just shooting at any loser that approaches the Sanctuary like they should. Mention was made of chips, exploding collars, etc. I'm sure I saw that in a movie somewhere.
All this tells me (besides the fact that the rich are comically evil, which we already knew) is that they are also profoundly stupid. Because there is no universe where this works for them longterm. Are you going to have an entire medical team with you to provide for any illness that might befall you in your fancy shelter? Is nothing ever going to break down? Are you going to have extensive manufacturing to make any new parts your fucking Pharaonic Tomb will need? Part of me wants it all to happen just so they get to watch in horror as their moronic plans fail to protect them and we all die in collective agony.
I definitely agree that we were not the intended audience for automation, — not trying to say that it wasn't made explicitly for the sake of furthering the wealth gap, — I'm only saying that it doesn't need to be that way. In fact, the automation of our world just further makes the case that the wealth generated through it ought to be redistributed.
And I agree that it wouldn't be sustainable but like you're saying, and I remember reading what about the billionaire bunkers (I think it was Douglass Rushkoff), and that the rich business class are mind numbingly, but that won't stop the engines from turning because there seems to be no collective agency to stop the systems that they work through.
That’s it exactly. I feel like all we should be talking about is how WE actually organize at large enough scale to upset the whole machinery. Because the rich dumbasses think they’re winning at life, all the politicians’ mouths are stuffed shut with massive wads of cash, and we’re sitting around going ‘hmm, isn’t this bad, actually?’ 😅
“Almost every time I’ve gone in to interview for a serving position over these past couple of months, alongside the usual crowd of twenty-somethings with mullets and piercings, there were always a handful of applicants in their mid to late 30s standing around coyly in full business attire with resumes inside padded pleather portfolios, waiting for their shot at a position where they would be running chicken alfredo from pass to table.” …. is this true? That is quite an image…
as a freelance copywriter who has already been asked to work with AI and is feeling increasingly hopeless about my job prospects, I felt this so hard 😵💫 I’m also sick of getting hundreds of AI images as my first results on Google rather than actual photos! Hoping AI burns out sooner than later but I’m afraid how much of the world will burn with it
oh god yeahh that’s tough. it’s a really difficult job market but wishing you the best in it,—i’m sure you’ll find some cozy corner to work in eventually!
the parallels to climate change feel very stark to me, i worry the profit motives are too captivating to the people in power for them to ever allow AI to fizzle out like it would otherwise
JFC again Briffin! Highly recommend Crepuscular Dawn -- Crepuscular Dawn https://g.co/kgs/wwcrdQw as an early vision of the accident culture we are now entering. Excellent essay
reading this at the office on company time while pretending to work… as god intended
hey, boss makes a dollar you make a dime..... might as well read Briffin on company time
the only way to do it
ME TOO
haha good
have been thinking recently about how literally nothing works (I buy something, it breaks within days, I replace it, the cycle will only end when I die) and though that’s slightly different this really captures that late stage capitalism horror- we have all of this tech at our disposal and we can’t help ourselves but make things worse. every night I pray that ai will become irrelevant the way the metaverse did
right!! it’s like being used in the same mold as tech with planned obsolescence, but for literally everything.
it’s literally a nightmare i swear
wow this is so well articulated i’m in awe!! also if any of my family members share one more AI bullshit image on facebook i will scream
ugh i feel you on that — and if i any more AI created substack thumbnails i’m going to defenestrate myself lol
'what was the point of automation if it doesn’t make our lives better?'
Oh but it does. It's just that you or I are not part of the 'us' as in 'our lives'. It was not made by common people nor for common people. For those whom it was made for, it makes lives better - or at least, wallets thicker.
Other than that everything you say rings true. Except the '70% of the workforce preparing to lose jobs' bit which is vaguely misleading maybe because I don't think we can claim that 70% of the work force will ACTUALLY lose jobs? Just that people are trying to build themselves safety nets because you never know. Lots of people work jobs that are still indispensable to society.
The one thing I find fascinating with the rich people's idea that they can just replace their entire workforce is......... who do they think is going to buy their product/service?
Like, I don't get how that is supposed to work. Let's say Company A's entire workforce is replaced by bots. Cool, Company A now has wildly increased profits, for a while. Its old employees end up on the dole, or worse. Companies B, C, D....... X Y Z are following suit, so whatever job openings there are are extremely scarce and difficult to get into. So masses of people are miserable, but the top brass is doing great, right? But...... for how long? Companies mostly still do not make money out of air. There is a service or a product. Even the financial slimy lizard people who literally make money out of money need the other people's money to be making the money out of.
Now let's say 100% of the work force is successfully laid off and you literally have a handful of rich people with All The Money. What then? Their service/ product is no longer getting bought because there are literally no people left with the capacity to buy. They buy from each other? There isn't enough of them. They still want to have the nice things.... do they then keep things running just for themselves, essentially Gattaca, somehow? They start funding their enterprises to continue manufacture in spite of economic loss because.... what else? That product/ service continues to exist? Like....... I don't think that is sustainable.
There is an amazing (and deeply bone-chilling) article by a guy who specializes in, like, ecology/ disaster/ survival stuff who got invited by an unnamed group of concerned billionaires to give them advice on what to do when the planet collapses. Not if, when. He suggested with all their money combined they could be working on making it maybe NOT collapse and they dismissed that out of hand, like nah, that ship has sailed, it's inevitable. What they had questions on was a) how do they build luxurious shelters that can be self-sustainable and ensure they continue to live in luxury after the rest of us are radioactive and eating each other outside. b) How do they recruit private armies to protect their fancy bunkers and make sure we don't sabotage them or come in and eat them and their fancy wine reserves and drink their infinity pool water in desperation. c) How do they create systems that let them control those private armies, making sure THEY don't turn on them and eat them instead of just shooting at any loser that approaches the Sanctuary like they should. Mention was made of chips, exploding collars, etc. I'm sure I saw that in a movie somewhere.
All this tells me (besides the fact that the rich are comically evil, which we already knew) is that they are also profoundly stupid. Because there is no universe where this works for them longterm. Are you going to have an entire medical team with you to provide for any illness that might befall you in your fancy shelter? Is nothing ever going to break down? Are you going to have extensive manufacturing to make any new parts your fucking Pharaonic Tomb will need? Part of me wants it all to happen just so they get to watch in horror as their moronic plans fail to protect them and we all die in collective agony.
I definitely agree that we were not the intended audience for automation, — not trying to say that it wasn't made explicitly for the sake of furthering the wealth gap, — I'm only saying that it doesn't need to be that way. In fact, the automation of our world just further makes the case that the wealth generated through it ought to be redistributed.
And I agree that it wouldn't be sustainable but like you're saying, and I remember reading what about the billionaire bunkers (I think it was Douglass Rushkoff), and that the rich business class are mind numbingly, but that won't stop the engines from turning because there seems to be no collective agency to stop the systems that they work through.
That’s it exactly. I feel like all we should be talking about is how WE actually organize at large enough scale to upset the whole machinery. Because the rich dumbasses think they’re winning at life, all the politicians’ mouths are stuffed shut with massive wads of cash, and we’re sitting around going ‘hmm, isn’t this bad, actually?’ 😅
Interesting article. Was it written by AI? I kid.
“Almost every time I’ve gone in to interview for a serving position over these past couple of months, alongside the usual crowd of twenty-somethings with mullets and piercings, there were always a handful of applicants in their mid to late 30s standing around coyly in full business attire with resumes inside padded pleather portfolios, waiting for their shot at a position where they would be running chicken alfredo from pass to table.” …. is this true? That is quite an image…
Hahaha thanks! Yeah it was, interesting times we live in fs
as a freelance copywriter who has already been asked to work with AI and is feeling increasingly hopeless about my job prospects, I felt this so hard 😵💫 I’m also sick of getting hundreds of AI images as my first results on Google rather than actual photos! Hoping AI burns out sooner than later but I’m afraid how much of the world will burn with it
oh god yeahh that’s tough. it’s a really difficult job market but wishing you the best in it,—i’m sure you’ll find some cozy corner to work in eventually!
the parallels to climate change feel very stark to me, i worry the profit motives are too captivating to the people in power for them to ever allow AI to fizzle out like it would otherwise
I saw the greatest minds of my generation driven mad trying to get people to click ads 1.4% more than they did last quarter.
Neoliberal vengeance for 2020's Great Resignation won't stop until every single worker feels as precarious as we did in Spring 2022.
I would love to see an mri of your brain
the doctors’ll be like woww his brain really is the size of a pea
No lies detected, captain.
Another incisive, though provoking read, thank you.
And I keep thinking I'm due an eye test and then remembering that IS the way your logo is designed!
JFC again Briffin! Highly recommend Crepuscular Dawn -- Crepuscular Dawn https://g.co/kgs/wwcrdQw as an early vision of the accident culture we are now entering. Excellent essay
Oh thanks for the rec! I’ll look into it asap
Thank you griffinnnn
of course Arden! your most recent post was so good
fellow lit grads that got sometimes pleasantly stuck in restaurant work, unite
Incredible read. Thank you!