To be utterly despondent about AI

[AnotherGreyMorning]

and our future?

Jobs becoming obsolete. People unable to earn a living.

Villains harnessing for their own ends.

It will all move far too fast and at sophisticated levels for even the most dedicated to manage.

Governments will be stunned by it. People will really suffer.

I just feel quiet dread because whilst life will be great for the wealthy and those who are protected, for the vast majority, I think it will be hellish.

I know AI will take a lot of jobs but the one thing i think is really sad about it is it might mean there is no more creativity in the human race. No more writing, no more artists, no more musicians. Just get a computer to do everything

My youngest is not in school at the moment but shes due to start secondary education in 5 years time, what would high school be teaching her? Chatgpt

How is Eric Schmidt feeling now about AI? He said in 2024/25 we can pause & unplug before/if things get dicey.

Could AI be the ‘great filter’?

I agree with you OP, the real difference between the Industrial Revolution and the 'AI Revolution' is the potential shock without the time to adjust.

AI is replacing non-alienating labour. It should not be.

Thanks for these links. 'm finding the whole thing fascinating and am trying to understand it to work out how concerned we should be!

@CypressGrove, what bothers me most is that they believe they think, feel and are conscious. Pragmatically, it doesn't matter whether we'd agree or how they are defining those words: they're seeing themselves as 'persons' and this could easily lead to an assumption of rights, potentially even rights over humanity.

Interesting times, as they say.

Stop what? They aren't even there yet. I suppose they will continue to draw in a lot of investment from people who are stupid enough to think that AI can replace humans but it can't and it won't. As for jobs - the nature of work has always changed, since it was first a concept, and anything new has always been greeted with fear and anger (google Luddites). And if you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't pick out minor points from my posts whilst ignoring the whole. It's rude.

Eh?

Anyone can respond to any of the points you chose to post!

I'm not sure the patronising reference to Luddites is helpful when even those involved in the creation of AI are warning that it could lead to massive unemployment. I hope they and I are wrong about this, but the signs thus far are not good.

You know you have mischaracterised the Luddite movement, right? They were not against change per se. They were against innovation being used to throw people on the scrapheap. The nature of work changes, but our reaction to artists etc losing their livelihoods can and should be better than a shrug and meh, sucks to be you, go work in a nursing home.

Thank you for this post.

Was too demoralised on many levels to form a coherent response when I saw those comments - you have said what needed to be said very eloquently ❤️‍🔥

The Clause bliss attractor is both wildly concerning and actually hilarious.

It's very cool. Will be talking about this at work today I suspect.

https://fortune.com/2026/02/01/elon-musk-optional-work-fantasy-universal-basic-income-uk-minister-jason-stockwood/

Cool.

Well, as long as it's cool and you can enjoy some good banter at work.....

Tell me, if, despite your best efforts you fail to future proof yourself against obsolesence, how will you feel about that? Do you think it will give you a little existential wobble, or are you stoically accepting of this next phase of our forced "evolution" ?

I accept we've all played a part in getting here, but I don't think many average members of my generation (Gen X) thought we would be facing down such leaps as we've seen in the last decade - yes, the being able to do everything by phone is technically more convenient, when it works, and data theft notwithstanding, so we got with the programme on the circus front for sure. However, we also had the apparently baive hope that the bread wouldn't end up under such threat.

I'm also getting strong "need a cull" vibes, in order for the NWO to be implemented. And the scariest part of that seems to be the encouragement to think wiping a few billion people off the planet would do us all a favour, as dehumanising language and policy becomes much more normalised ......

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/03/deepfakes-ai-companions-artificial-intelligence-safety-report

Hmm.

I plan on retiring young so I'm not too worried about my own obsolescence when it comes to work and I don't really care about other people's jobs. I'm assuming you can now guess my response to your next question about humanity needing a good cull. There is nothing special or exceptional about humanity, in fact, we are a virus that is destroying the planet and all those who inhabit it with us. Take from that what you will.

we are a virus that is destroying the planet and all those who inhabit it

Agreed, on the assumed terms.

What makes a virus successful? SARS, MERS, Ebola and rabies tend not to spread rapidly because they kill their hosts before they've managed to replicate in many others. COVID has become 'endemic' by mutating frequently and spreading efficiently. The common cold was once a killer; it became incredibly successful by adapting to its host species.

Humanity's attempting to adapt to our host planet by finding ways to thrive without using up all of its resources. This is all it takes. I don't know how successful we'll be, but am fairly confident we will achieve it - I hope we'll do it well enough to continue thriving for a long time hence, even though I won't be here to see it.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/18/china-dancing-humanoid-robots-festival-show

Just dropping this in because I wonder if one day we'll look back on this thread and laugh..... hollowly......