Can A.I. Be Pro-Worker?
John Cassidynewyorker.com
Author Perspective
Across 6 tracked claims, John Cassidy skews pessimistic.
17% optimistic83% pessimistic
Claims from this article
6 claims
Tools akin to the Electrician's Assistant could be readily built to support many additional trade and modern craft workers, such as plumbers, building contractors, and health-care workers.
OptimisticOptimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comwithin 1-5 yearsconfidence confident
Few employees would willingly train an apprentice designed to replace them, and yet this is precisely what happens when companies use worker expertise to build automation systems.
PessimisticPessimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comimminentconfidence high
Authors, journalists, visual artists, musicians, translators, and countless other creators find their work appropriated as training data, with no compensation or control.
PessimisticPessimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comimminentconfidence high
Even in cases where companies have employed A.I. programs without engaging in mass layoffs, they have often been used to surveil and coerce workers rather than empower them.
PessimisticPessimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comimminentconfidence high
A.I. is already displacing jobs, or at least being used as an excuse for big layoffs.
PessimisticPessimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comimminentconfidence high
On its current course, A.I. seems likely to accentuate both wealth concentration and the declining labor share of national income, with alarming implications for inequality, welfare, and democracy.
PessimisticPessimisticJohn Cassidynewyorker.comwithin 1-5 yearsconfidence likely