A heartbreaking story about a man's attempt to break out of generational poverty that feels relevant as we consider how AI changes labor and who it empowers.

A lot of us are excited about AI, but economic displacement can cause generations of trauma, and our safety net in the US is wholly inadequate toward that end.

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happytoexplain 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I appreciate what you're saying holistically speaking, but whenever we talk about the societal consequences of AI in the US, I find it insidious that we focus on the inadequacy of our social safety nets. As if to say: Yes, C-suite, all you have to do is support UBI and you are free to obliterate what remains of the middle class in the United States of America.

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SirensOfTitan 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I totally agree actually, and I think that having ownership over one's labor is extremely important. Without that self-determinism, people do not have the agency to define their lives, and their political actions become limited by their economic realities.

It is a likely outcome that the wealthy class offers the most meager basic income to avoid revolution but not much more than that.

I think we all need to talk about our leverage as a class of people who work for a living, and I'm not seeing nearly enough discussion about it. When Amodei talks about displacement of labor, he doesn't acknowledge how much trauma that economic displacement can cause and how many years that bell can ring.

	▲	happytoexplain 30 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I'm not really sure how this one ends. I'm afraid there will be violence, but I'm much more afraid that there won't be.

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2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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karmakurtisaani 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I guess they can also do the same without supporting UBI, so there's that..

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saidnooneever 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

thank you for sharing this. Too many people around me i see this story in. EU here. I am a lucky one as i get to look at my friends suffer from my temporary comfort. The title could not be more on point.

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Atomic_Torrfisk 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Are you actually EU? You know we are not one homogeneous state right? There are currently 27 nations, in which policy and circumstance varies between even at a regional level. There is immense poverty in some nations, notably Spain or Italy, but even Germany. I've seen it first hand, its heartbreaking.

https://www.statista.com/chart/30411/share-of-people-at-risk...

/rant

Edit: Why downvote? debate me. Its so childish to suppress comments you do not agree with.

	▲	dh2022 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Thanks for sharing this chart. I am amazed how Poland has less poverty than Germany. Maybe is East Germany bringing the average down for the entire country? Even then, still very impressive.