I'm one of the people who goes to stand in line for the one or two human cashiers left when I visit the supermarket. I don't do it because I don't understand the machines, nor because I don't have money on my card. I do. Largely, I end up paying by card anyway, and I'm always irritated and more than a little baffled when a disgruntled employee (machine aid, as I think of them), or even the cashier himself starts barking at the customers to "go use the machines if paying by card". It's happened to me several times, and I'm always struck by two things:
a. How irritated they seem;
b. How unwilling they are to fight for themselves.
Oh, I get not fighting for other people (I don't, actually, we'll get to that), but not even for yourself? Don't these people understand that their livelihood is on the line, that it depends on us few sluggish morons who still insist on paying with a live cashier?
Sure, the supermarkets claim they won't fire people, that they'll make up new jobs. Like what? Shelf-stacking? Literally the first thing they designed robots for? The other day, I came across a robot wandering through the store, giving out croissants, so gone are the girls in tight skirts giving samples and shit. So, what exactly will the new jobs entail that these people are so secure about their future?
Because in their place, I'd be taking to the street.
Actually, scratch that. I am in their place, and I'm not in the street. Just the other day, I had a conversation with a former client who told me rather casually they'd be trying ChatGPT for a while. A situation seen by writers the world over. Didn't impact me much, I've spent the past year taking sporadic freelance gigs, while focusing on platforms that value human input, such as Hive or Medium. I do well on both, I see results.
So, why am I not in the street? Doing something? Because frankly, for me, writing dull freelance copy was always gonna be a temporary job. I tend to land on my feet, I'm not too worried. And I am fighting AI takeover as I can. Doing what I do best, writing about it. Not using the self-checkout booths designed to rob people of jobs and allow so many of us to never break our maddening isolation. Do you know, for some people, that "Do you want a bag" or "cash or card" at the checkout were the only moments of human interaction in the entire day?
Community. :)
I digress. I don't support this AI crap. I don't use it for my books, for cover design, for anything like that. I don't even upvote posts using AI-generated imagery here. Why would I? Either take the pic yourself, or credit someone with the photographic skills to your liking :)
We learned nothing from the pandemic.
One phrase I've often heard, particularly from people who are now regretful about their behavior during the pandemic, is "I hope it doesn't happen again". See, we have this vaguely idiotic concept that if it does happen again, it's gonna be in the exact same circumstances. Except that's not how life works.
One very scary part of the pandemic, for me, was the unwillingness to fight for our brothers and sisters.
I fought for myself. Most of the people alongside, they were fighting for themselves, also, for their rights and their freedoms. I saw very few people whose rights and freedoms hadn't been affected come join the fight. Why should they? It wasn't hurting them.
We are so short-sighted and self-involved we can't grasp the simple concept that nothing is an isolated incident. Them taking my right to go into a stupid shopping mall wasn't an isolated "me problem". Them taking the cashier's job and giving it to the AI isn't just the cashier's problem. It's everybody's.
They're hitting cashiers now, but why should you care? You're not a cashier.
They're hitting writers, photographers, and other artists. Why should you care? You're not an artist.
They're hitting drivers, doctors, lawyers...how long before the list inevitably comes to include your job also?
I like to return to this little cautionary tale, not because I like it, but because it's just so applicable to our present predicament,
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller
The culling has begun. And they're not coming after me.
To return to my own little ChatGPT example, one reason I'm not particularly concerned for myself (even as I understand the sinister implications of this whole AI thing) is because I am fairly ahead of many of my peers. Not trying to be arrogant here, nor deluded, just trying for an honest assessment. I am lucky to be resourceful and adaptable. What led me to take on my first writing job at 19, with no "training", no schooling or whatever, will probably see me into a good place in my future.
I know how to adapt and find opportunity. Many people my age don't. A cousin of mine, same age as me, still has a year left on a Master's course that he himself admits to be nothing but a useless piece of paper. By the time that year ends, his life as a journalist and hopefully a writer is slated to begin.
I wonder, where? Journalism is being flooded by AI. Copywriting is already swamped. Where exactly will that brilliant writing life commence then?
At the risk of sounding calloused (but then again, the people in charge also have pretty thick skin, so we need it, in order to talk about this), it's people like my cousin they're culling. In a dystopian future where most basic survival (and even beyond) tasks can be carried out by AI, we'll need far fewer people in the workforce. Frankly, I don't buy into the idyllic fantasy of "everyone will be free to listen to Bach, and bike-ride through the countryside all day, while AI works for us". Why? Well, if we look at the past hundred years alone, does it seem like any of the atrocities committed have been for our (the little people's) benefit?
Back to the dystopia then. Through mass culling, we'd be able to boil down to a more concentrated, more potent human contingent. A few million people with the skills, creative, adaptive, and innovative, necessary to propel Earth, finally, towards the stars. Towards space colonization. Towards cosmic expansion.
In movies, we always see space colonization happening so Earth can drop off the excess population (which seems to be commonly agreed upon). They always send people to some far away colony to thrive and harvest potatoes. Except, wouldn't the smart, truly sci-fi thing to do be eradicating the need for potatoes? Building intellectual centres, and presumably military bases, to solidify our standing in the cosmos?
I genuinely don't try to be mean here, but if that is the future we're angling towards, it's not gonna be people who wait seventeen years for a useless piece of paper to "allow" them to work that we'll be looking for. It's gonna be innovative thinkers. I've always said this presumption that we must all survive this (the AI takeover, the pandemic, name your favorite catastrophe) is fanciful and childish.
I don't think the point is for us to thrive, because in this imperfect world, many of us will be considered useless and a waste of resources. I don't think the point is for them to find new lives for us up there, either. I don't think they invented cashier-replacing AIs so the cashiers could go prancing through a meadow. That, again, is fanciful and childish.
And you know what the worst thing is? That in the end, they'll be able to justify the culling to the rest. Look at this entire thing I just wrote -- I think the cashiers should be fighting for their jobs. They're not. I find that stupid and ignorant, which irritates me, making me think "fine, if you're not gonna fight, maybe you deserve your job taken from you". Which is just a step away from "maybe you are a waste of resources." Frightening to see the machine at work, no?
P.S. - Personally, I think everyone deserves to live out this precious, brief life on the human plane in peace and accordance to their best judgment. But I doubt the people in control of technological advancement, military and governance decisions, would agree with me.
I also don't necessarily believe in an "us vs them" conspiracy theory. I'm just practical enough to know that someone must lead. Someone must make the decisions. And they're gonna need a heck of a lot of sang froid. Hence the conclusions above.
I took great comfort from this during the pandemic. Particularly the chorus,
Not in my name, oh not in my name,
Don't take me for a fool.
Not in my name, oh not in my name,
For I am onto you.
