AI 'News': What's really going on with jobs and big tech's power plays
AI Eats Jobs? More Like AI Serves Up a Steaming Pile of Hype
So, another day, another breathless report about AI stealing all our jobs. This time it's MIT [MIT report: AI can already replace nearly 12% of the U.S. workforce]. Eleven point seven percent, they say. That's the magic number, folks. Like they pulled it out of a hat. Or, more likely, out of some supercomputer's ass.
"Digital twin of the U.S. labor market," they call it. Sounds impressive, right? Like they've got a freakin' SimCity running for the entire country. But let's be real, all this "digital twin" crap is just fancy marketing for what? A slightly more sophisticated spreadsheet? Give me a break.
They're saying AI can do the work of 151 million people. Tasks, I mean. Not full-on replace, not yet. But that's the angle, isn't it? The slow creep of the machines. The inevitable obsolescence of the human worker.
And it's always the same song and dance. First, it was factory workers. Then truck drivers. Now it's "white-collar, knowledge-heavy fields." Finance, healthcare, law... suddenly, nobody's safe.
The White-Collar Apocalypse (Maybe?)
But here's the thing: We've been hearing this for decades. Automation was supposed to kill all the jobs back in the '80s. Then the internet was gonna do it. Now it's AI's turn at bat. And yet... here we are. Still employed. Still complaining about our bosses. Still paying taxes.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there won't be any job losses. Offcourse, there will be. But the idea that AI is going to sweep through the economy like some kind of digital plague, leaving nothing but desolation and despair in its wake? I just ain't buying it.
It's always framed as "AI replacing humans". Why not "AI helping humans?" Or "AI freeing humans from drudgery to do more creative work?" Oh right, because fear sells better.
The MIT report itself admits this 11.7% is technical capability, not a prediction. Big difference. Just because a machine can do something doesn't mean it will. Cost, implementation, regulation, human error... there are a million reasons why this doomsday scenario might not come to pass.
Google's AI Boner and Nvidia's Hangover
Speaking of AI hype, did you see Google's stock is surging because of its AI advancements? Up 53% year-to-date! Because, you know, algorithms can write better clickbait articles now. Fantastic. You can read more about it in this GOOGL News Today, Nov 27: AI Innovations Propel Google’s Stock Surge article.
Meanwhile, Nvidia's stock took a 4% hit because Meta (aka Facebook, aka the Evil Empire) is apparently going to use Google's AI chips [Nvidia stock falls 4% on report Meta will use Google AI chips]. So, the company that makes the shovels in the AI gold rush is losing out to... well, to another company that makes shovels. It's shovels all the way down, people.
And what is Meta doing with these chips? Probably figuring out new ways to manipulate our emotions and sell us crap we don't need. Great.
But hey, at least somebody's making money off this AI revolution.
Then again, maybe I'm just a grumpy old Luddite. Maybe AI is going to usher in a new era of prosperity and abundance for all. Maybe we'll all be living in utopian luxury, waited on hand and foot by our robot butlers.
Nah. More likely we'll be fighting over the scraps, while the tech overlords laugh all the way to the bank.
So, What's the Real Deal?
It's the same old story: Tech companies overpromising, economists overhyping, and the rest of us just trying to figure out how to survive. The MIT report is just another data point in the endless stream of AI noise. It doesn't mean the sky is falling. It just means someone wants to sell you something.