Central Bank Digital Currency

[wheelnut]

Who the fuck writes cheques, anyway...? Oh, seemingly every branch of the UK Government do.

I think they may do that to discourage people from cashing the low value cheques. If they send out a million cheques for <£50 each year, what proportion of them will get lost, put in a drawer indefinitely or just get forgotten about?

[KungFooBob]

Joe_Walsh.JPG

That's up there amongst the stupidest things any old man has ever said

But life's been good to him so far.

[JackyJoll]

Joe_Walsh.JPG

That's up there amongst the stupidest things any old man has ever said

He’s just doing his job.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Too much time in the fast lane

[cheb]

But he's a famous successful and popular musician. He can therefore behave like a complete arsehole and be forgiven, possibly even admired for it.

Lucky he wasn't just a prole really.

[westers151]

When we see AI something useful, I might take an interest. But probably not

It already is.
Shame the party poopers are only interested in what-if negative outcomes.

I'll bite; I think it's legitimate to have concerns about a technology that can impact all sectors of society, rather than having happy ears on and blindly embracing it. BT have already announced that 55,000 people will be replaced by AI by 2030, and don't think they are unique in this. AI can, and will, replace highly skilled workers. What are all these people supposed to do in order to earn a living and survive?

I guess you will view me as a doom and gloom merchant, but the corporate world is about profit. It doesn't have an obligation to society to employ people, it has to employ people in order to create profit; we are a tool, and nothing more. I've worked in the corporate world long enough to be pragmatic about what it's priorities are.

[gremlin]

How many people were made jobless by the printing press? The telegraph? And how many by the telephone? Robots on production lines? Computers? The internet?

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

[Mr. Dazzle]

As I said in another thread ages ago, if anything all this AI stuff just demonstrates how easy loads of jobs actually are. Metaphorical turning the handle jobs are at serious risk.

It was the same with farming of course, dumb muscle replaced by machine muscle.

Genuinely don't know what that means for human labour over the next 50 years. As above, you can't have a society based purely on computers doing everything...not one which operates like ours anyway. Who knows, maybe it really will be the death of money.

I wouldn't hold your breath

[KungFooBob]

I'm hoping for an Iain M Banks stylee Culture where no one has to work and the AI's look after everything.

[JackyJoll]

I don’t see why AI can’t break stuff in a hotel room.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Breaking the wi-fi just isn't the same

[KungFooBob]

I bet Skynet could send a T800 to trash a hotel room.

[westers151]

How many people were made jobless by the printing press? The telegraph? And how many by the telephone? Robots on production lines? Computers? The internet?

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Yes, however all of the other people moved into other roles that still required people - retail, office work, etc, etc. If Ai is replacing your role, you can bet that it's also replacing other roles that, after a bit of reskilling, you could have moved into.

[MrLongbeard]

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Love Island, Strictly, TOWIE, The Kardashians, Married at First Sight, Blind Date, 24 hours rolling doom n gloom news channels etc etc etc, she wasn't far off the mark.

[gremlin]

How many people were made jobless by the printing press? The telegraph? And how many by the telephone? Robots on production lines? Computers? The internet?

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Yes, however all of the other people moved into other roles that still required people - retail, office work, etc, etc. If Ai is replacing your role, you can bet that it's also replacing other roles that, after a bit of reskilling, you could have moved into.

And that's the way it's always been and always will be. Humans are, by design, very innovative. When one role disappears, they will invent another. Can you imagine my nan ever grasping what the fuck a 'social media influencer' was?

The world moves one and there's always been people predicting the end of it.

[cheb]

How many people were made jobless by the printing press? The telegraph? And how many by the telephone? Robots on production lines? Computers? The internet?

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Yes, however all of the other people moved into other roles that still required people - retail, office work, etc, etc. If Ai is replacing your role, you can bet that it's also replacing other roles that, after a bit of reskilling, you could have moved into.

And that's the way it's always been and always will be. Humans are, by design, very innovative. When one role disappears, they will invent another. Can you imagine my nan ever grasping what the fuck a 'social media influencer' was?

The world moves one and there's always been people predicting the end of it.

She might have known what a 'shill' was, or even 'a snake oil salesman'.

[gremlin]

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Love Island, Strictly, TOWIE, The Kardashians, Married at First Sight, Blind Date, 24 hours rolling doom n gloom news channels etc etc etc, she wasn't far off the mark.

True, but you forgot the joy that is QVC.

Seriously, look at the amount of people television production now employs. The amount of joys in TV advertising, mostly for online gambling, granted. Cable laying. Dish installations. Call centre support so that people can continue to watch brain-dead telly. Ad infinitum.

[gremlin]

Yes, however all of the other people moved into other roles that still required people - retail, office work, etc, etc. If Ai is replacing your role, you can bet that it's also replacing other roles that, after a bit of reskilling, you could have moved into.

And that's the way it's always been and always will be. Humans are, by design, very innovative. When one role disappears, they will invent another. Can you imagine my nan ever grasping what the fuck a 'social media influencer' was?

The world moves one and there's always been people predicting the end of it.

She might have known what a 'shill' was, or even 'a snake oil salesman'.

eBay and charity shops killed the Raga and Bone business. The world kept turning*.



*Probably not for the horse, mind.

[MrLongbeard]

True, but you forgot the joy that is QVC.

Seriously, look at the amount of people television production now employs. The amount of joys in TV advertising, mostly for online gambling, granted. Cable laying. Dish installations. Call centre support so that people can continue to watch brain-dead telly. Ad infinitum.

QVC is dead, long live the home of cheap dangerous tat Aliexpress & Temu

[Hoonercat]

How many people were made jobless by the printing press? The telegraph? And how many by the telephone? Robots on production lines? Computers? The internet?

Reading this I'm reminded of my nan telling everyone she could that television would be the end of mankind as we know it.

Yes, however all of the other people moved into other roles that still required people - retail, office work, etc, etc. If Ai is replacing your role, you can bet that it's also replacing other roles that, after a bit of reskilling, you could have moved into.

The printing press created industries that went on to employ millions globally (eg news media, magazines, book publishing, retail sales). Indirectly, it created employment in transport and was a huge boom for advertising agencies, who produced ads that would then vastly benefit the industries that employed their services. The amount of profit and jobs generated from the introduction of the printing press is immeasurable.
Same with computers, entire industries were born and the Mac arguably turned the backstreet independent Ad Agencies into huge globle corps with massive employment increases. The cost and speed of creating content dropped, their fees dropped (eventually) which allowed smaller brands to afford to advertise, thus increasing their profits and the need for more workers. The same applies to the internet, TV, phone etc

Maybe I'm just not putting enough thought into it, but from an employment perspective I don't see AI creating new industries or benefitting existing industries anywhere near the extent that the above did.