Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Marginal Gains's avatar

Now, here is the use case that we need to worry about:

The active-duty US Army Green Beret who authorities say exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas last week used artificial intelligence to plan the blast, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/us/las-vegas-cybertruck-explosion-livelsberger/index.html

Expand full comment
Marginal Gains's avatar

I agree with your post. Every time I get involved in a large enterprise system implementation, which is very frequently, I witness the same pattern: tasks become automated, and if the system cannot perform them for one reason or another, no one knows how to do them manually anymore.

The "laziness" accompanying technological advancement is not new; it has been a recurring pattern throughout history. Consider the advent of calculators, which led us to outsource basic mathematical computations. Similarly, GPS has diminished our ability to read maps and navigate independently. Writing on paper, once a fundamental skill, is quickly becoming obsolete as laptops and digital devices dominate. Questions such as the following will need to be asked across all aspects of human life:

How long before children stop needing to learn to write by hand?

With the rise of AI, we are on the verge of outsourcing even more fundamental human abilities—our capacity to think critically, comprehend complex ideas, and express ourselves through writing. This trend extends across various fields; surgeons increasingly rely on robotic systems for precision surgeries. They are losing the ability to perform a complete surgery from start to end, and doctors are beginning to delegate one of the most human aspects of their profession—providing emotional support and answering patients’ questions—to AI-powered tools. A prime example of this is discussed in this article (https://tinyurl.com/yc4svv2w), highlighting how AI is integrated into healthcare communication.

While these advancements offer undeniable benefits, they also present significant challenges. If AI succeeds in taking over many cognitive and creative tasks, we must ask: What happens to the people displaced by this progress? Most jobs may not vanish entirely in the short run, but the nature of work will shift dramatically. Also, in the short term, the least experienced and skilled workers will bear the brunt of this transformation. The most proficient 20% of workers will likely become hyper-productive, reducing the need for larger workforces in fields like analysis, coding, writing, and creative industries.

This shift signals a troubling paradox: by training AI to perform tasks more efficiently than we can, we are, in essence, training our replacements. In the long run, society must grapple with the question: What will those permanently displaced by AI do in a world where human labor is no longer essential for many tasks?

The danger here is not just AI-induced laziness but the gradual erosion of essential human skills and the widening socioeconomic divides that could result. If we are not careful, the convenience offered by AI could come at the cost of our humanity and our ability to adapt to a world increasingly shaped by machines.

On a more optimistic note, those who maintain their agency and learn to use AI as a tool rather than a crutch will likely become the most critical human resources of the future. Their tacit knowledge, experience, intuition, and ability to address the edge cases where AI struggles—those last 10% of unpredictable scenarios—will make them invaluable. These individuals will bridge human creativity and AI efficiency, ensuring progress without sacrificing the human touch.

Expand full comment
12 more comments...

No posts