The Dangers Of Our Disconnected World
We live in a segmented reality, where companies operate in their own little economic spheres. Sure, they are aware of markets and modify behaviours to some degree to take best advantage of these. However, these corporations do not act with any holistic responsibility to the greater good. AI is a tacit technological arms race in the competitive business world. Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally about replacing human beings with a cheaper and better machine alternative. The obvious economic downside of this is that when hundreds of millions of human jobs are replaced by AI, who is going to buy the products and services these companies produce? Many seemingly intelligent people know this but we do not see any slowing down of the AI revolution. This is due to the dangers of our disconnected world, where competing companies are only concerned with their own fortunes.
Our Leaders Are Disconnected From Caring For Us
Our governments and leaders are not addressing this obvious AI trap. They appear to be in thrall to the marketing bling of the tech lords. A well known union leader downunder has called out this by referring to the AI charge being driven by 4 billionaires and the Chinese. Are these instigators really interested primarily in the wellbeing of you and me? And in the billions of human beings about to be impacted economically around the globe? The wealth and power divide in places like the United States, where this technology has emerged from, has never been greater. The digital revolution took a dark turn a decade or so ago, perhaps around the time of the death of Steve Jobs? Since then, the spectre of technocracy and its fascist overtones have laid its enshittification hands upon our smart phones and computers.
The promise of technology has been replaced by the addictive clamour of social media, doom scrolling, and never ending subscription fees for everything. The digital mirror shows a dirty side to humanity. Greedy billionaires and craven politicians.
We Are Disconnected From Our Collective Power
Ultimately, we the people, have the economic lever to switch off the AI trap. Collectively we could decide to stop using the technology utilising AI in our lives. To turn off the economic tap funding these companies. We could take things into our own hands and stop being mindlessly driven by the allure of digital convenience. When you lose your job and others around you are similarly excised from their careers, you could take a stand. You could think to yourself it does not make sense to support those dehumanising our economies. The dangers of our disconnected world are that we do not join the obvious dots. The demise of unions has not been an accidental thing. Right wing figures and governments have purposely denigrated unions and union leaders to diminish their influence and power. Why? Because it is easier to take down individuals than a collective. Strength in numbers and all that. America always sings the praises of the individual and bags socialism relentlessly. The myth of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is just that, a bullshit story. In reality, it is community that is more important than individual ambition. We live in communities and need each other.
Billionaires are an illustration of a sick economy and culture. They are nothing to be proud of. If one man has the wealth of hundreds of millions of people, like Elon Musk, that is an obscenity.
Brett Hemenway Falk & Gerry Tsoukalas
“If AI displaces human workers faster than the economy can reabsorb them, it risks eroding the very consumer demand firms depend on. We show that knowing this is not enough for firms to stop it. In a competitive task-based model of a transitioning economy, each firm captures the full cost saving from automation but bears only a fraction of the demand loss it creates in the product market; the rest falls on rivals. This demand externality traps rational firms in an automation arms race, displacing workers well beyond what is collectively optimal. The resulting loss harms both workers and firm owners. More competition and “better” AI amplify the excess; wage adjustments and free entry cannot eliminate it. Neither can capital income taxes, worker equity, universal basic income, upskilling, or Coasean bargaining. A Pigouvian automation tax can. The results suggest that policy should address not only the aftermath of AI labor displacement but also the competitive incentives that drive it.”
Your Political Leaders Will Not Save You Or Your Living
Governments and business leaders are telling us that this social dislocation and disruption is inevitable because the markets deem it to be so.
This neoliberal surrender is a callous disregard for human life and wellbeing. The entire AI phenomenon is a downgrading of us in favour of machine intelligence. It is about a small percentage of humanity benefitting economically at the expense of the rest of us. The effect will be Social Darwinism on a massive scale and if you find yourself on the wrong end of the equation – you and your loved ones are fucked! I don’t see Donald Trump shedding any tears over your misfortune. In fact, I don’t hear any governments taking any real steps to deal with the fall out. If we have any brains or guts, we will do what we can to turn off the economic taps to those driving this AI replacement of human beings policy.
AI Job Losses & How Australia Punishes The Unemployed Economically
“AI is coming for your job. As someone who has just been replaced by an automated program this is real, let me tell you. In light of this it is pertinent to remember that Australia punishes the unemployed economically. It is bipartisan policy of Australian governments to provide below the poverty line welfare payments to the unemployed. This has been going on for decades and is one of the reasons why we have a substantial number of older Australians living in poverty. These folk cannot afford to visit the dentist to get treatment because it is too expensive and dental is not included in Medicare. This in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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