AGI USHERS IN THE POST-WORK WORLD

I read an interesting article by Avital Balwit, the Chief of staff to the CEO of Anthropic. It was published in May, 2024 and it begins:

“I am 25. These next five years might be the last few years that I work. I am not ill, nor am I becoming a stay-at-home mom, nor have I been so financially fortunate to be on the brink of voluntary retirement. I stand at the edge of a technological development that seems likely, should it arrive, to end employment as I know it.”

You can read the rest of the article here: https://lnkd.in/gJfMUry6

In the article she delves into her journey at Anthropic, highlighting the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. She reflects on the likely obsolescence of many jobs, including her own, due to the increasing capabilities of AI systems. It is an interesting read as it questions, and tries to answer, how society might adapt to a future where work may no longer be the primary means of economic and social participation.

She also suggests that, as AGI progresses into ASI, they will be well equipped to help us finding purpose in the post-work world. She writes that “…if we really think these systems will be able to replace us, there is no reason to believe they will not also be able to help us in our search for meaning.”

So not only will the AGI’s replace us, but they will help us find meaning in obsolescence. Not really the world I envisaged when I read William Gibson’s Neuromancer for the first time!

So when will this happen? Balwit’s article suggests a five-year timeline. The interesting aspect here is that the original article had a three-year timeline (see here: https://lnkd.in/gPmHs7Er). Perhaps in six months, she’ll move it to seven years? Who knows.

Will AI and robotics replace a lot of job roles? Of course. Will everyone be obsolete in two years’ time, according to her original timeline? Of course not. Even Balwit worked that out and changed her original timeline.

Will AI be there for us and make life bearable in obsolescence? No. I think that is reaching too far into the AI wishing well. AI will continuously create solutions for us that will also come with negative side effects. To think AI is always the solution to all our problems is concerning in so many ways.

What do you think? When wil you get replaced?