BearStorms t1_it97vps wrote on October 21, 2022 at 9:20 PM

Reply to comment by OLSAU in Thoughts on Job Loss Due to Automation by Redvolition

This can get even darker; what are the billions of people on UBI good for when everything can be automated? They are just kind of in the way, useless masses just wasting space and breathing the air that should be reserved by the deserving elites that made this brave new world possible. Imagine a tech billionaire and his army of robots literally genociding most of humanity. You can even rationalize it as "saving the Earth and the environment". I mean I don't think this scenario is likely since hopefully most of the elites are not complete monsters, but it is thought that crossed my mind once or twice...

EulersApprentice t1_itbjmil wrote on October 22, 2022 at 11:36 AM

This is my biggest concern with automation*. The keystone of civilization is "humans together are strong; humans alone are weak". Remove that keystone and civilization has no reason to exist. It'd only be a matter of time before "might makes right" becomes the default human philosophy. The problem runs deeper than capitalism; removing capitalism doesn't remove the problem.

*Excluding AGI. If AGI enters the picture, all bets are off.

AsthmaBeyondBorders t1_it9dzr2 wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:05 PM

The thing is wealth is relative. If they enter a world where everyone is rich then suddenly nobody is rich anymore. Won't that be a loop to annihilation?

BearStorms t1_it9fuar wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:19 PM

Everyone won't be rich. Even if we have unlimited energy and can conjure anything out of rocks or garbage there will still be limited space on this planet.

AsthmaBeyondBorders t1_it9fyz4 wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:20 PM

Exactly. But wasn't your comment suggesting rich people may kill poor people because they become useless or did I read that wrong?

BearStorms t1_it9gzke wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:28 PM

They won't be of any use anymore as everything is done by robots so no employees necessary and they are now just taking up that one limited precious resource that has completely finite supply - space on this planet.

AsthmaBeyondBorders t1_it9hd4s wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:30 PM

And I suppose then they enter a worldwide agreement of the elites where they accept to live peacefully as equals forever, because the useless space-taking masses have been eradicated and now everyone who is left in the world will finally be able to accept that all people are equal? Can they continue to be elite when non-elites don't exist anymore? Or will there be a new smaller elite?

BearStorms t1_it9zqtb wrote on October 22, 2022 at 12:56 AM

Well, who knows, I'm not saying this idea is completely fleshed out :)

There was this movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service" that had a similar plot where a wealthy megalomaniac and eco-terrorist wanting to deal with climate change by wiping out most of humanity. There was no AI or robots involved in the plot however.

Just a food for thought that the 0.01% elites will have no use for us plebs when everything is automated. We won't be useless, we will be less than useless - we will be literally a waste of space and oxygen.

BearStorms t1_ita0aj4 wrote on October 22, 2022 at 1:00 AM

Also think about implications for authoritarian regimes - right now as a dictator you have to maintain a strong force that keeps the population at bay. Imagine that now you have automated police force, millions of small drones spying on you at all times and even intervening any time you are doing anything the regime doesn't like. That stuff is coming to China probably sooner that we would expect.