Is this the way the world is going?

[Thiscantgoonlikethis]

Lack of jobs. 70% unemployment after AI. 2/3 of people currently calling themselves ‘content creators’. No one has money to buy actual stuff anymore, apart from the basics. Lots of people unemployed, no money, constant scrolling on SM watching ‘content’. All trying to make it as ‘content creators’ as views and engagement is the only income viable. It’s a highly precarious income, constantly trying to out do and ‘max’ ourselves for viewing numbers and subscribers. No one has any real purpose, all children, pets, experiences are used for content. Education becomes devalued, no need for school as childcare anymore, whole families can sit and scroll together. School attendance gets in the way of ‘experiences’ anyway. No one works menial jobs as they are all too anxious, depressed, distracted and of course thats nothing to do with social media, it’s a lack of reasonable adjustments and shouldn’t their employers know that they can’t serve customers in their customer service job as it’s too triggering/ anxiety provoking. All pets have to match furniture. There’s no social care. We all die with our hands in claw like positions with very tired thumbs.

I don't think the OP is saying that 70% of people are unemployed due to AI, or that 2/3 call themselves content creators. She's asking whether the bleak picture painted in her post is "the way the world is going", i.e., is it a realistic vision of the future?

I highly recommend getting offline and into the countryside for some fresh air and perspective.

Not everyone lives their life as ‘influencers’. For every one of them though that can make a living out of it there are many, many more either not monetised or making pennies. My kids are in their 20s and neither they nor their friends are trying to be influencers.

I was referring to the OP’s post at 10:15am

I live in one of the most affluent towns in the country (and the most affluent town in the north of England) and let me tell you, there are many, many, manyyyyy very wealthy people here who very much DO have money to buy actual stuff, this I can assure you! I don’t even know where to start, example wise and it would be in very poor taste for me to do so, but yes. There’s plenty of money out there. I’m surrounded by it - whilst living in poverty myself!
To give you a small example of how high the bar is here, I live in a housing association house and my next door neighbours bought their house for £559,000. Just a standard 4 bed detached. No I’m not saying that’s an example of wealth, I’m saying that’s what’s just next door to a social housing property…. One street over from me is a house on the market for £21m

How is OP’s vision more dystopian and pessimistic than yours? 😬

I do think we are at some kind of turning point. Whether that's a good or bad thing, who knows. And I do agree that the potential for AI is worrying, of course it is. I also agree that far too many people "live" on their phones which isn't good.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying OP. Seen so many changes since I was a kid and so many aren't for the better especially in the last 20 odd years.
Some people are going to disagree because they are already screen and tech lobotomised and think it'snormal.
AI has it's place but it won't replace humans for a lot of things for now, but then who knows what will be happening in another 20/30 years ?

All pets have to match furniture
Well I'm screwed as the dog is ginger!
😆 🤣 😂
I'm so un-hip 🙈

‘One in five (19%) social media users consider themselves to be content creators (10%) or influencers (9%), according to new Mintel research. This number increases to 28% for Gen Z social media users as 11% consider themselves to be influencers and 17% content creators. Meanwhile, three-quarters (76%) of self-proclaimed influencers are living the social media dream by earning enough money from content creation and advertising to support themselves without other work.’

the article states that only 11% of genZ consider themselves to be influencers and 17% content creators, and 76% of those 11% of influencers are earning money from it.

only 1 in 5 social media users consider themselves to be content creators

the numbers are not that scary!! I could consider myself to be a ‘content creator’ as I sometimes post on social media- the context of the article and how the research was done is not clear.

where did you get 70% unemployed from?

a lot of people still obviously have money to buy actual stuff as otherwise our entire economy would have collapsed.

life is changing yes, and we all need to adapt and stay ‘human’ but stop scaremongering!

There is so much bollocks on social media from these so called creators and influencers. Filming yourself opening a box of perfume or a child opening a gift wrapped toy, who the fuck has time to watch this shit?

I think what was being referred to is the OP and I don't know how that can be described as anything less than dystopian, however ridiculous and flawed a view of things it might be.

And who is "you people"? All of us reading this, whatever our views?

How old are you OP? I only ask as I'm in my 40s with teenage children who are embarking on training and courses or are in full time work or in full time education. I know a lot of other teens and young adults through them and what you describe really isn't the reality for them or their peers.

None of them are or want to be content creators. In fact, their social media engagement is far more personal and private than most boomers or millennials I know.

Also, between them all they're still playing team sports, individual sports, they're gardening and cooking, they're camping and boating - and they're not sharing photos or videos of all of this. Their career ambitions and those of their friends include but aren't limited to: aeronautical engineering, cheffing, midwifery, accounting, musical theatre, nursing, armed forces, politics. Lots of them have been travelling or plan to. It's as varied as the personalities, characters and values that they all have.

Many of them work in what you call "menial" jobs while they're studying for A Levels or in Uni - they're bar staff and waiters, they're tradies and shop assistants.

This isn't me being rose tinted, these are real life people living their full, real, wild and precious lives.

Where in that article does it say that?

76% of self-proclaimed influencers say they earn enough money from social media content creation and advertising to support themselves without other work

I find this hard to believe, if they are defining influencers in the same way as they do for the question where they say 9% of SM users consider themselves influencers.

I don't have quite as pessimistic view as you do, OP, but I don't feel very optimistic either. AI is already in many of the physical jobs people mention above (eg farming) and as robotics improves it will be more so. The best bet is a career where the human touch is valuable in its own right eg teaching, caring, although even those sectors will change.

Can you get navy-blue dogs?
Agree with the number of people scrolling, but I am not. I am sitting in a nice, Thai restaurant in a German city, having lunch and reading stuff on my iPad. My fingers/thumbs have always been too sausage-like to write text on my phone, unless really necessary.
I think societies will adapt over time, but it may not be pretty.
About 25 years ago I shocked a close family member by asserting that the ruling classes will be those, who can read and write. I have not changed this view and find it increasinly confirmed by the deterioration of the English language, both spoken and written.
Thankfully I fully intend not to be alive in 50 years' time.

The next generation never want to be doing what the generation before have been doing they find it cringe!
The world 🌎 is ever always evolving even my adult children shun social media !
U have to look at the bigger picture things have a way of working themselves out !

"I think your view is dystopian and pessimistic. Also the human race is ending'.

😂

Some of ye need the Internet taken away from you.

All pets have to match furniture?
I have a ginger cat and a black and white cat, can I match them to different pieces of furniture?

I don't think you're being overly pessimistic or dystopian OP. As ever we have the "just ignore it, it will go away" brigade advocating touching grass, but the current trajectory of human existence is extremely concerning. The absolute insistence from some quarters that AI is the answer to all our woes, and rejecting it will lead to destitution or worse is akin to brain washing on a global level.

Data and ad revenue are a massive part of the economy. I'm 57, currently a useless eater 🙄 and isolated from my old life for complex reasons. I crave human interaction but all my options are limited, and I'm encouraged by well meaning friends to sort my life out by "going online". If it wasn't such an unregulated shitshow I might have considered it, but now the idea of exposing myself to any number of people who might not even be real, or might be predators is extremely concerning.

We are so far away from the days when you could do a bit of ebay for pin money or just write a blog as an outlet without its content being scraped to "educate" AI and generate revenue. I really do think the "end of the world" will be via collective nervous breakdown.

The government seems to be doing its best to destroy UK farming (over 6000 agricultural businesses in the last year have shut) and most of our manufacturing industry has long since shifted to China. AI seems pretty irrelevant to those industries given that they are disappearing or have already gone. The future in the UK looks bleak to me.

I don't think it's quite that bad.

How many youngsters have you talked to recently @Thiscantgoonlikethis?

A robot could potentially hoist the client in and out of bed/chair, act as a motorized wheelchair, prepare food, give meds, give conversation and instruction, help someone use an adapted toilet/shower.

You don’t think the OP’s vision is dystopian at all??!