[ExI] ai and job loss

[William Flynn Wallace]

The majority of the fortunes gave us something in return, and build great
things once amassed.



spike

I agree with most of what Spike said, but here's a rub:  in this economy
the superrich can control employee pay and do.  I seem to remember reading
that most blue and white collar salaries have stayed fairly level for a
long time now.  Even with inflation low, these superrich are depriving
their employees (often cited:  Walmart) of more pay and more health care.

Why?  Because they can.  From middle management on down, there's not a lot
of competition among companies for these workers (of whom there is an
excess) like there is at the top and for the technically gifted.

Now Trump et al will eliminate Obamacare and even more people will not be
able to meet their mortgage payments and health costs, and go broke and
file for bankruptcy.  Many will become homeless.  I think it's a national
shame that we even have homeless people outside of the truly addicted and
the insane (who really should have some help too).  Do you see the Repubs
as helping?  Sorry - just had to provide you with a good laugh.

Of course I have no answer to these problems, but I hope a lot of people
will see these as problems.  "A rising tide lifts all boats"  NOT!!!

bill w

On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 9:24 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> *>…* *On Behalf Of *John Clark
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] ai and job loss
>
>
>
> >…On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 3:49 PM, William Flynn Wallace <
> foozler83 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> http://qz.com/875491/japanese-white-collar-workers-are-
> already-being-replaced-by-artificial-intelligence/?utm_
> source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
>
>
>
>
>
> >…We can expect to see more and more of this sort of thing in the
> immediate future, and job loss won't be limited just to unskilled workers,
> it will effect everyone. The gap between rich and poor is HUGE and it's
> increasing. In 2010 the richest 388 people had as much wealth as half of
> the entire human race, that's 3.6 Billion people. …  John K Clark
>
>
>
>
>
> John, the way you placed these two disparate concepts in the same
> paragraph suggests that job loss and wealth concentration are the same
> thing.  I would suggest the two concepts do not belong in the same
> paragraph.
>
>
>
> We know that job loss is a huge and growing problem, and we know that
> advancing technology does not necessarily compensate for the jobs it
> eliminates.  It is past time we technophiles face that reality.  But having
> wealth in the hands of a few is in a way a solution rather than a problem.
> Reason: people with grand piles of money have grand visions.  These grand
> visions employ people, and in some cases build great things far more
> effectively than any government can.
>
>
>
> Consider all the things the Gates Foundation is doing.  Consider all the
> cool stuff one of our own, Peter Thiel is doing with his money, among them
> funding Eliezer Yudkowsky’s AI research group.  We know some billionaires
> do evil with their wealth, but those are the minority.
>
>
>
> In most cases, vast fortunes are created from some really cool product,
> such as Apple or the legion of internet companies.  We saw a recent example
> where a vast fortune was amassed without an actual tangible product:
> selling government influence.  But this is mercifully rare.  The majority
> of the fortunes gave us something in return, and build great things once
> amassed.
>
>
>
> spike
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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>
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