AI robs jobs from recent college grads, but isn't hurting wages, Stanford study says Researchers with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab say that workers between the ages of 22 and 25 in occupations most exposed to AI, like software developers, have seen a 13 percent relative decline in employment compared to other occupations. This comes as employment for more experienced workers in the same jobs, and workers …
If say the Tech Bros dream comes true (it won't) and all entry level jobs are removed....then what?
Where do the higher level jobs come from if there is no-one doing the basic stuff?
This is China's one child policy at a tech level.
Trim the youth to keep the numbers down ( or number go up in this case) then in 10, 15, 20 years time, there won't be anyone in the higher level jobs as they've all quit or retired.
Not Einstein level thinking to conclude that if the present doesn't invest in the future then there is not likely to be much of a future.
Students on the brink of entering higher education might now switch to a trade like plumbing or drywalling. Should they persist with a college education they are unlikely to pursue an applied STEM based career which in turn leads to institutions downsizing those schools by reducing staffing and the courses offered.
Already seeing this starting to happen.
Surely after a period of adjustment new categories of jobs will be created in the AI-powered hiring vacuum!
Saboteur, for instance, or guillotine operator. Strong-man Dictator is currently very popular but availability is quite limited. Ratcatcher certainly brings some historical clout, and has the bonus of producing sustenance (for some limited values of "sustenance"). The role of "Tank Man" might make a popular, if brief, comeback in the public square, but probably not in Tiananmen Square - that one's been done to death. The field for Rich Man is pretty much saturated, but Poor Man, Beggar Man, and Thief are primed to see a renewed rise in popularity.
Arbitrary positivity is the key! Not to meaningful future work, of course, but definitely to positivity itself - and when you've said that, you've said words!
For more information, see historical references "Soylent Green", "Logan's Run", "1984", et al.
(Icon symbolic of another future work option: "history resetter". Note: expensive to start, poor return on investment, generally reserved for nation-states.)
There's a minimum salary that will attract people to go into a profession. To say that wages aren't being hurt is too nuanced to be worth anything. I'd not get qualifications in something where there were so few openings that it might take a long time to find a job. That would mean that for a company to find anybody with their usual nonsense HR generated requirements, they will have to pay well. That jobs are being lost is a big deal as it means going into that field with student loans to pay off might be a total non-starter and the degree(s) might not amount to much elsewhere. It makes me think of the quote attributed to L. Sprague de Camp, "It doesn't pay a prophet to be too specific". Unless, of course, you nail it and are seen as an amazing prophet. In this case, if you wind up in great, well paying job at a good company, you will have nailed it and the odds might be rather poor.
"You nail it and are seen as an amazing prophet. In this case, if you wind up in great, well paying job at a good company."
Alternatively depending on what you prophesied you yourself might easily be nailed to a bit of bush carpentry instead.
Or like Agnes Nutter invited to her own barbecue that went off with a considerable bang which was some small consolation.
"Well, AI can't really affect wages here in the UK. Most are already set at the national minimum wage, so can't go any lower (despite employers protests)"
That means it's completely worthless to get qualifications in something like AI development if working a block from home at the corner shop pays the same money and has the benefit of not having to wear fancy clothes and spend loads of money on transportation. I do about half my work from a home office which means much less vehicle expense. It's quite noticeable over what it was costing me when I had a "real" job 5-6 days/week. The other half of my work is in the field and I bill for my travel.
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