Jason Crawford on Warpcast

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Welcome to @jasoncrawford.eth! Jason is the founder of The Roots of Progress, a non-profit dedicated to progress studies. In addition, he has served as an advisor for Our World in Data and as a guest lecturer at MIT. His essay, We Need A New Philosophy of Progress, is one of the best arguments for techno-optimism that I've read: https://rootsofprogress.org/we-need-a-new-philosophy-of-progress/ He has agreed to do an AMA for the /books channel as part of the ongoing Silicon Valley Canon course. Reply with your questions. :)

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Nona𐦍༘⋆ pfp

I think that these days there’s fear of the impact of automation and AI on replacing humans on jobs and society what gives you confidence that technology will ultimately lead to better outcomes for humanity?

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@jasoncrawford.eth

Technology has led to amazing outcomes for humanity so far, and not because of some fluke but because human beings are fundamentally problem-solving animals. Why should the pattern of the last three million years stop now? Re automation replacing humans: for some jobs, it will augment humans; for others, it will replace them. That will be amazing for those who are augmented, but disruptive for those who are replaced. We should sympathize with them, maybe we should compensate them, but ultimately the replacement will be a huge boon to society. E.g., think of how today only the rich can afford to have great doctors, lawyers, accountants, or tutors; can commission works of art; can invest in ventures like new apps. AI will democratize all of this. That will be enormous human empowerment. It is worth some disruption to the economy.

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Nona𐦍༘⋆ pfp

But imo while we can embrace these benefits the disruption could be pretty severe for people in the short term and it’ll be a challenge we will need to navigate along the line. I hope there’s a way to strike a balance between embracing the advancements and making sure the people affected aren’t left behind

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@jasoncrawford.eth

AI will put people out of work, but it will also help them find new jobs, and help reskill them if needed And it just might create enough surplus wealth that we can basically give them pensions for life if all else fails

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Nona𐦍༘⋆ pfp

I enjoyed this, thanks for shedding light

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