AI over the next few years

[Nutmuncher]

I’ve recently shifted my reading content from war, doom scrolling and political madness towards being positive for the next few years, mainly scientific breakthroughs and technological advances from AI. There’s so much to be excited about (aside from the inescapable dose of fear and nerves of war doom climate doom and politics) and I think it’s something MN should be talking about more.

AI is coming whether we like it or not, it’s going to bring with it a seismic shift for the world that’s going to be incredible but also bring with it a tricky societal transition that will impact us all in some way, jobs will change, industry will evolve, the human touch will become increasingly important. How easily we transition to that new world is another story, how will those who don’t use devices or aren’t technology native actually navigate a more connected world? The economic implications if entire industries go or certain careers are no longer needed could be catastrophic if not managed properly and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But I want to focus on the positives so let’s gloss over the bumpy transition period for now 😅

The advances and changes we’re going to see in the coming years will make today look like the 80’s in a relatively short space of time. The pace of progress in companies such as Anthropic, SpaceX, OpenAI right now is breathtaking. People think picture editing or making dodgy FB posters whenever you mention AI but it’s so much more than that, we just think it’s bad for the environment and that it’s taking jobs away when actually alongside technology and robotics it’s going to revolutionise how we live dramatically.

Excited about-

Medical advances and breakthroughs, we’ve seen the impact GLP-1s brought, there’s so much more just like those coming in the next few years. Drugs are being discovered super fast, research is taking months instead of years and analysis of clinical trials is more thorough and accurate. As new technologies come available the medicines keep improving. Gene therapy and having targeted treatments based on our own genetics is an exciting area of research that’s currently happening, the understanding of our own bodies will be a major step forward. I have always been keen in longevity and wellness, areas which I’m watching like a hawk.

Education. AI isn’t going to be a hologram teacher (not yet anyway) instead it could help teachers tailor lessons to each child, minimise many of the laborious administrative tasks, help to identify learning difficulties earlier and much more. I think classrooms are going to look very different in the next 5 years.

Industry. Rather than replacing entire industries, AI will automate repetitive work, improve decision-making and help people work more efficiently. Some sectors will change more than others and productivity will increase along with efficiency in the businesses that adopt and adapt. I think industry and workplaces in general will soon be judged on how quickly they use new technology, those that do will appear relevant and capable and those that don’t will resemble an office if it were still using a typewriter today.

Anyone else excited?

Yet you still think AI is net positive?

What are these ephemeral "new industries" and new "ways of working" the OP is so enthusiastuc about?

Maslows hierarchy of needs covers the fundamentals required for physically and emotionally gealthy societies and despite a ballpark of say 2000 years of human progress and innovarion and social experimentation / restructuring we are currently regressing in all areas at an exponential rate.

We are seeing resurgance in religious zealotry, bollocks about "evolutionary psychology" undermining equality gains between the sexes, racial prejudice being actively encouraged in the nebulous guise of "immigration" issues, economic inequality being driven largely by the very technology as having all the solutions to all society's ills but offering zero practical solutions. We are economic / data units to be mined algorithmically - in the US surveillance pricing is being tried out.

Will these new industries primarily consist of the willing few employed to monitor and control the remaining many and keep them in line?

What is it humans need that we haven't already achieved a reasonable standard of providing materially, ignoring the ideologies and economic ring fencing that interferes with equitable distribution of existing resources?

All the breathless optimism of the OP for the AI manna, ignoring the collateral damage looming for future generations, smacks of belief in a divine technoligical intervention that sounds utterly delusional.

Absolutely. The software isn’t the issue.

Unrest or any civil disorder would be a result of governments failing to act immediately on economic reform or not regulating how AI is adopted in the workplace.

They’re skills that very few corporate email senders currently have though.

Just like the calculator transformed accountancy, the iPhone transformed how we interact with the internet or the MRI transformed diagnostics, AI has the power to transform how we work and how businesses operate. The working week could actually shift to the working half week for huge numbers of us, still paid the same because our productivity actually increases whilst working fewer hours, imagine being a company that has a 3 day work week as a full time contract.

Imagine having an extra 2 or 3 days free time every week, that time would be invested in your well being, your family, volunteering, walking, travelling, art, baking, learning new skills or simply doing life things. That alone would have a transformative impact on countless lives. Of course there are those who love working 5 days or more, I’m sure there will still be plenty of full time roles available for them to fill but the point is a huge shift in how we do things is coming.

It’s not delusion it’s fact, right now the rate of progress in AI software development is exponential. Please come back to this thread in 12 months and tell me I was wrong.

Please be more specific about what you mean by "new industries" ?

Also, as PPs have said, are companies that can increase productivity by having fewer working hours really going to pay the same full time wages for part time work ? Do you actually understand how capitalism works? And if incomes are lower, all the fancy leisure pursuits you describe will fall by the way side while trying to keep up with rising costs for the basics. UBI will likely never be implemented because of the ingrained aversion to anybody getting money for nothing, especially at the bottom end if society.

Everything you're deluding yourself about requires major political will and a total shift in societal mindset, and given the global influence of monopolistic corporations who already have the power to sue governments who interfere with their profit making abilities, it's not going to happen in 12 months to keep up with this dramatic prediction of yours.

FSD instructors, Robotics maintenance, robotics hire, Deepfake detectives, instant medical diagnostic clinics, AI animation, AI gaming

But I think we’ll see an explosion of holistic things focused on human connection such as creative classes, more gyms and wellness centres

How. Will. People. Afford. Them.?

‘ explosion of holistic things focused on human connection’

Most teachers (shhh) don’t tell, already use AI for the ridiculous amount of ‘admin’ connected to being a teacher. Until society values teachers FOR their ability to foster HUMAN CONNECTION- the system remains untenable and a weird android robot with silver shoes and no emotion or creativity or humour is no solution for that.

I understand It’s hard to fathom now if you apply today’s capitalism norms and logic to a future world concept.

Imagine the first companies that offer a 3 day full time pay contract. They would have candidates clamouring for roles and would likely force the hand of the 5 day stalwarts if they ever wanted to retain or attract any type of skilled talent going forward.

I’m not saying every job will be that way but many industries will absolutely be able to adopt new structures of what work looks like and how long we spend doing it.

Let’s say you’re a launderette at the time washers were invented. The washing machine freed women from hours and hours of hard manual laundry work, now you put a wash on and go about the rest of your day, the clothes actually come out cleaner than if it were by hand and it took a fraction of the time, does the customer pay any less for the clean clothes?

By using their wages?

The wages that increasingly need state top ups to meet the ever rising cost of living?

Whatever you're smoking, I could do with some.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/06/ai-altering-meaning-of-users-drafts-on-issues-from-abortion-to-climate-study-finds

Then we have things like this. Seems pertinent.

I agree with this. AI does not produce anything new: it needs human intelligence to continue to be even partially effective, and I think all the companies who are currently (very shortsightedly) making lots of redundancies will realise that they are losing the skill, intelligence and effectiveness of a predominantly human workforce. It’s not the next Industrial Revolution, because it cannot produce on its own.

And all these companies/industries that are cutting out an entire generation of entry level jobs are going to be screwed in 20/30 years when they do not have a skilled workforce to take over as the current mid-level workers retire.

I understand it’s hard to fathom now if you apply today’s capitalism norms and logic to a future world concept @Nutmuncher

Could you be specific about how far into the future you are thinking for the new world concept?

You say there could be big social changes due to AI within the next year or so. Will there be a new economic model in every country in the world then too?

Agree redundancies now are premature. But AI companies claim AI will indeed be able to produce on its own pretty soon. I guess we just have to wait and see if they’re right.

Good question.

I genuinely think they’re wrong. I think in a very short space of time AI will become stuck in a cyclical loop of its own making: it won’t be advancing thought, science or technology. I guess the question really is do these AI companies want those advancements anyway?

Not to mention the issues around energy use. It wouldn’t surprise me if in the near future governments started developing cost models for AI use versus using human beings, and brought in legislation to cap its use in industry. And by cost models I don’t mean the cost to individual companies, but the cost to the environment, energy grids, space allocation, water usage etc. We are still in the Wild West of AI development-legislation will catch up, just like it’s now catching up regarding social media.

I find this a much more plausible optimistic view of the future than the OP’s vision of an AI-supported utopia!

I have to admit I do find worse outcomes more likely though. As you say, governments are only just catching up with social media now and it’s been in existence for more than 20 years, with it being clear for at least half of that how damaging it is to children in particular. Governments just haven’t been that great so far at regulating emerging tech.

Even taking its corporate use out of the equation, there’s an enormous negative impact on people’s interpersonal skills and their motivation to learn and create. That is already happening.

My DH always jokes about how the Terminator films are in essence a prediction of what is happening now, and says in a (kind of) serious way that the robots are taking over and will be our demise.

I have to laugh but I do actually agree with him up to a point.

AI does not produce anything new independently yet but all of the AI companies are aiming to achieve AGI in the next few years and this will probably be the biggest change once Artificial General Intelligence is available, when it achieves human-like intelligence.

Remember, we’re in an exponential rate of progress now, in 20-30 years life will be unrecognisable, those entry level jobs would be as unheard of and obsolete just like black and white silent movies are today.

Depressing to say but I don’t see the elites tolerating us plebs sitting around doing nothing recieving universal basic income. I know there’s people who believe in a future utopia where AI does everything and we all receive money to live on but I think that’s hopelessly naive.
The elites won’t tolerate useless eaters taking up space there will be a cull. You don’t have to look far to see how they resent a small percentage of unemployed people imagine when that’s 80+% of the population.

@Englandvsmexico

The elites won’t tolerate useless eaters taking up space there will be a cull. You don’t have to look far to see how they resent a small percentage of unemployed people imagine when that’s 80+% of the population.

I don;t think it's the "elite" who resent those not working as it really doesn't affect them. It's normal workers who resent those who don't/won't work!

And that’s what I mean, AI is already causing creative stagnation. Next will be scientific and technological stagnation. One will invariably follow the other. Now obviously the oligarchs won’t care about that but governments will have to as the climate emergency gathers pace and the pull on resources becomes more astute. AI is a massive drain on resources for very little gain: that’s the problem. AI is not doing anything innovative within the context of human development. It is simply regurgitating our knowledge back to us (and very shoddily at that).