I think a lot about purpose, trying to have one and how I fail at it. In a wider scope though, I don’t think anyone else is doing better at actually having a purpose, hence my thesis; anyone can either be replaced or rendered unnecessary.
It’s been bugging me more and more, what with some of the recent celebrity news, but also the way AI is literally taking what people are all about. I love AI art, but it’s a depressing thing to love. The celebrity news is Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty has been removed from all of his projects. I’m not defending him, at all. Just, morbidly, realizing he’s being replaced.
Maybe it won’t work out, I’ve seen that before that a central creative role is vacated for whatever reason and it’s the show can’t recover. Somehow, I’d be more okay with that. The reason; if it carries on with the same success it has had in the past, then didn’t that make his creative input entirely meaningless? If someone can be replaced, what purpose have they?
Meanwhile I finally bought the bullet (figuratively) and called to try and make an appointment with a new therapist, straight to voicemail. Which is where I rage against the universe; why are the people important to me not worth replacing?! If all work is automatable, how long until I’m just talking to some computer and it’s like “my algorithm says you matter, customer 8237”
It’s pointless, almost everything. I turned 35 yesterday, as if such things matter… they used to, but we were probably lying to ourselves from the beginning. I’ve been automated out of two careers, and I really don’t feel like getting up for a third time… nothing I do amounts to anything, because I, like everyone else, can be replaced.
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I guess it comes down to the infinite monkey theorem. With an infinite amount of monkeys banging on typewriters, one of them will eventually manage to type out all the works of Shakespeare. And if it’s not that monkey it’ll be a different one. Because there’s literally infinity of them.
While I believe this to be generally true, I don’t necessarily think that humans (or monkeys) are infinite resources nor do we have infinite time. If we don’t nuke ourselves first, a meteor will hit us before the monkeys get to Hamlet. So there is a time constraint as well as a resource constraint.
I agree that certain people are totally replaceable, expendable. But I’ll counter by asking how many successful bands lost their lead singer and continued on to equal or greater success? A couple… AC/DC, Genesis, Van Halen sorta. But the vast, vast, vast majority of bands that tried to replace their hit singer didn’t quite measure up.
Of course music may be an exception to the rule of replaceability. With most professions we’re just parts of a machine. I suppose the true one-of-a-kinds will know it, and that feeling will keep them going. The inventors, the artists, the writers. At least until they lose faith in themselves.
Most human jobs are replaceable, and are being replaced. That is the problem and OPs point. Very few areas where AI and robots have not taken over- yet. There’s some jobs that robots will take over- soon- and it is disconcerting. If a robot can do it, where will the humans go? There aren’t enough decent paying jobs for humans to do anymore, hence the rise of low wages (well outsourcing is also an issue, but automation is a HUGE factor in declining wages and elimination of jobs).
Sure, the arts (music, art, etc) have not yet been taken over by AI, but they are working on it. They’re already working on programs that teach AI how to “write,” how to create music, how to sing- yes, they are already out there, albeit in their infancy stages. Artistic jobs are currently still here, but for how long?
True, it could even be said that autotune (which is now used on basically EVERY singer) is a form of AI replacing the arts. It’s not their real vocal talent we’re hearing anymore, it’s a computer airbrushing the notes to its own standards of perfection. And the younger generation doesn’t know any better because they’ve probably never heard the real human thing unless they listen to oldies/classic rock radio.
If you get what I’m saying… the problem is even more terrifying than simply replacing humans with AI. The problem is that humans are being taught that AI is better than humans.
So it’s hitting us from both ends. We’re being replaced, and at the same time we’re being brainwashed to think that our replacements are better than us. Talk about your sense of self worth going into the trash. If a computer can do my job better than I can, then why bother. Why bother with life. Our superior replacements are here.
“” If all work is automatable, how long until I’m just talking to some computer and it’s like “my algorithm says you matter, customer 8237″”
It’s already here. There are numerous apps that have replaced “therapists” and it’s all AI generated responses. You type whatever it is you’re feeling, and the app generates responses as if it’s “talking” to you.