Discussion
Every time there has been a software system failure or disruption everybody involved insists "AI" and layoffs weren't the direct cause and that people should stop spreading fear about a new tech. It's a tactic to shut down criticism
But even if the proximate cause is something else, trace it back enough and the penultimate cause will often have been "AI" or layoffs. And the ultimate cause is always going to be bad management that prioritised stock price and bonuses over functioning companies
Hear, hear. American business as a culture has painted itself into a corner with this undue emphasis on maximizing profits in the short term. It’s a reckless, destructive point of view. Over the long term.
The culture needs to change. It’ll require leadership with a grander vision than quarterly profits.
@baldur It's the layoffs. In recent years those are often caused by adoption of AI bullshit generators. In previous times they were often preceded by other "cost cutting" exercises. But it's always the layoffs. Getting rid of nominally "redundant" staff may seem like a great way to cut costs. Until a crisis occurs and they learn the hard way that "redundancy" and "resilience" are the same thing. But then it's too late.
@baldur I would concur, in that there is no way they can admit that AI - or the adoption of it, or the promotion of it, or the impacts of having embraced it - is the problem. Because they are so sold into the AI mindset.
There is always something else to blame.
What we do see is that companies that have embraced AI are experiencing failures and disruptions. Just co-incidence.
@baldur and let's at least say "people misusing AI."
The recent issues with ASI (contract given to company funded by GOP donors & Sean Duffy's son in law's campaign) and Microsoft (laundered money for petrostate despots & oil oligarchs via the AI bubble)
... both are linked to public corruption in tech & fossil fuel investment.
@baldur It's not even spreading fear about the tech but how oligarchs are using that tech -- which seems to me like something that is automatically a legit concern.
@baldur There's a consistent pattern throughout history, where powerful discoveries were the catalyst for wildly polaric effects - similar to what we see with current antiquated systems in vital root infrastructure, and advanced tech like AI.
The common theme (see: Root Cause Analysis based in Behavioral Science) is the lack of mitigating education, causing eloquent transitions in such polarities, like a 'cushioning buffer'. The fact that the US overextended duopoly adds to the bipolar effects, and being the wealthiest power in human history, multiplies - if not soon exponentiating the effects, to the point of being a spearhead of a mass extinction event.
And this during a neutered COP31.
@baldur >>> "the ultimate cause is always going to be bad management that prioritised stock price and bonuses over functioning companies" <<<
That's been true for a number of decades. And it's been getting worse, over time. The AI craze is only the latest "wave" in the tide, that is "coming in" (and flooding homes, destroying property, etc.).
@baldur Too much short-term thinking at the expense of the long-term.
And trace it back a litttle further and it becomes an issue with capitalism (ruh roh).
An analogy I saw was "we're seeing a lot more hurricanes because of climate change but pointing at any given hurricane and asking 'was this one caused by climate change?' is borderline impossible to answer"
@baldur
The kind of company that would lay off a large fraction of its skilled staff because the CEO doesn't respect them and wants to replace them with a cheaper alternative, is the kind of company that is going to run itself onto the rocks sooner or later, and that was true before AI.
But it has to be said, the delusion that AI would finally make that a winning strategy has definitely emboldened them.
@baldur would love to see a proper dissection. I was stunned to read that someone is 24 years into a modernization effort started in 2002 on the ATC systems. Clearly not working that well. Can’t blame that failure on AI. I wonder if it is time to try something different.