Will AI Come for Your Job?

At my age I have lived through a lot of hype cycles.  Everything from "cold fusion", to more than a couple of "room temperature superconductors", to the early days of the internet, and a lot of other magic technologies that were going to Change Everything. 

Now the internet did have a huge impact on everything from business to society, but not in the way anyone forecasted.  And it took over a decade for things to really materialize.  And along the way the companies that were supposed to create big change (pets.com?) are long gone and the companies that had seemingly insurmountable leads gave way to newcomers (Yahoo, Mosaic and a ton of other early pioneers made way for later upstart Google).

The latest hype of course is AI.  While I think it represents a significant change, I think the hype about it is way overdone.  Companies and stock traders are whipping up a frenzy to make gobs of money while any real changes will be years away (like the early internet).  I also think that what AI can do is rather limited.  Like everyone else I tried Chat GPT when it first came out and after a couple of hours of playing with it I was underwhelmed.  It gave incorrect answers to several queries and its default writing style comes off like a boot-licking toady due to the woke programming.

Perhaps I am too old to be impressed by AI as I actually store knowledge in my brain rather than rely on the internet.  So the fear about AI is probably true for younger generations who don't know anything, can't do critical thinking, and coasted through college while getting a Gender Studies degree.

A post over at Mish discussed a WSJ article if we are entering the "Cognitive Revolution", where someone tested if they could be replaced by an AI.  Here is my comment at Mish about the article and concept:

If your job can be replaced with AI then you have a rote data collection/data spewing job that does not create new information, advancements, or include any true creation. 

Now this does include a very large number of people holding down seats in cube farms, call centers and the like.  Plus anything that is cookie cutter/rules based output like basic wills, tax forms and the like. 

So if your answer is "yes AI can replace my job", then maybe you are good at memorization, data management and outputting that info, but not really with original creative thinking, interpersonal interaction, or a dozen other human talents I could list.  If you are worried about AI, then develop your skills where AI cannot.

I am not worried about AI replacing my job, and I don't use AI to help me because, quite frankly, I can write and find information better than it can.  But I do agree that it is better than most of the graduates the US school system is putting out these days.