Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs as it increases reliance on AI

[pakistanitarzan]

Right. Park Rangers, Surveyors... field jobs with mobility but not requiring hard physical work in all kind of weather conditions.
Of the manual labor people talking about here, perhaps only the electricians are less subjected to physical labor stresses. I have employed roofers, plumbers, carpenters, driveway pavers, yard workers... I don't envy them.

I always wanted to be a cop but they don't pay as well as my IT job!

 

[Paitoo]

There will be a reckoning between the economic model of Ai and the products that these large corporations will provide, with having "no customers" for their products and services because everyone is unemployed with no income

"No customers" is by design for these AI edgelords. Elon Musk is on record saying that AI will reach a level where no one will need to work and everyone will just have what they want. Obviously he didn't say whether all 7 Billion people will have what they want. It will be obvious to people like him that he is talking of far far lesser number of people. Reduction of world population is definitely an unstated objective. Utopia will be achieved when there are no companies and no customers. Just entities controlling and distributing resources as per some agreed rule.

 

[PakFactor]

Don't lose the hope. God sustains the world and HIS PLANS are best.
Stay positive and take it 1 day at a time.......no need to worry about stuff u cant control. Why worry on that?
As long as u have basic necessities and a roof over your head, its ok.

You can say, brother, after what I went through, I turned to Allah (swt) even more, and I do feel he did what he did to bring me closer to him, and I'm thankful for that, and for giving me a strong family support network to fall back on; that itself is a bigger blessing than anything.

 

[PakFactor]

Mrs. AZ is also an accountant. The firm she works for was acquired by a larger firm with a global presence. You can appreciate my not going into details for a certain reason.

Anyway, they recently pushed out some AI tools. Guess what? They don't work. Absolutely not ready for prime time and the support desk, which I won't say where is located, if quite frankly, useless. I am stunned with a few things I see.

She has 4 years until she retires.

Yes, some tools aren't as efficient, but it will come down to how much they invest in their models. Let's just say the firm my brother works at has a full-stack team in Germany and India, and their AI tool is basically replacing the entry-level workers internally; they have a hiring freeze at the moment.

 

[Paitoo]

You can say, brother, after what I went through, I turned to Allah (swt) even more, and I do feel he did what he did to bring me closer to him, and I'm thankful for that, and for giving me a strong family support network to fall back on; that itself is a bigger blessing than anything.

Regardless of what religion you follow, everyone needs some dose of reality, that you are fragile and a nobody, so that you can develop a fresh perspective towards life. COVID did it for some. AI is doing for some.

 

[r3alist]

Intelligence itself is going to be less important, remember everyone has trained these models anytime they use ai to mimic their job needs


I wondered if everyone boycotted ai for a year would it be less useful,

 

[r3alist]

I'll go one step ahead and say they dislike human capital. They always have, and that's why industrialization/automation has always increased. The ideal number of people a corporation would want to employ is zero. They don't want to deal with the headache of managing human capital. Presently, many edgelord businessmen are secretly salivating at the prospect of massive reduction in human input. It is a world they have always dreamt of - devoid of the lowly plebs, only filled with highly intelligent people like themselves. Like some science fiction fantasy.
They are also salivating at the prospect of getting more intellectually involved with end-level decision making. For example, programming robotic soldiers / drones on when/how/why to execute a kill. They love all this... this control. With the frontline soldier's judgement gone, they can do as they please. It's just one example. They see it as an opportunity to be at the frontline in all domains. A massive ego trip.

This is the right framing, 20 or 40 years ago industry required human labour so they got a better deal and encouraged workers to hang around

Now global capital doesn't need human labor AND intelligence as much and will readjust with no emotion


It feels like a race to the bottom, there is no safe space indefinitely,and you still need opportunity to develop soft skills which means getting your foot in the door

3 of my friends have lost their jobs in the last month or so. They were the ones we least expected to be laid off, coz they were in very niche domains, and no one thought those roles could be taken by AI. Two of them were so niche that they are faced with the prospect of not finding a job at all. On the contrary, most of my other friends who have managerial jobs in finance, banking and tech, and totally replaceable, continue to remain employed, when we thought their jobs will be the first to go. Turns out there is no magic recipe, they are just lucky that the entire chain of command above them are in the same boat, so they are all just surviving by sticking together

I believe the higher the average technical competence of the average worker job in your area the HIGHER your risk

It makes sense for niche technical jobs to go because the propensity and inclination to automate is natural

A bank is highly bureaucratic, seniors have no idea how to implement ai, justify the cost and own the outcome, they won't
In this case you have less average competence, more politics, bigger sprawling organisation and the day job takes enough time, makes sense you are not threatened by ai sharply

 

[r3alist]

"No customers" is by design for these AI edgelords. Elon Musk is on record saying that AI will reach a level where no one will need to work and everyone will just have what they want. Obviously he didn't say whether all 7 Billion people will have what they want. It will be obvious to people like him that he is talking of far far lesser number of people. Reduction of world population is definitely an unstated objective. Utopia will be achieved when there are no companies and no customers. Just entities controlling and distributing resources as per some agreed rule.

This is serfdom, Huxley brave new world,

A world of left brained semi autistic tech dorks and equally weird techno philosophers will engineer the remainder of humanity at their whim as they control tech

 

[Fox]

Excellent news.

Finally a path to ROI on AI investments.

I always wanted to be a cop but they don't pay as well as my IT job!

You should factor in rishwat.

 

[PK781]

An electrician overseas I am guessing because the average salary for an electrician in Pakistan is 1500 rupees dihari.

yeah bro.
plumbers, electricians, welders, carpentry, flooring, roofing is good money here once u have experience and work well. (skilled trades)
But the issue is getting to that level if youre a beginner its tough luck!

young gens these days wanna play games and they shy away(most) from hard labour.....

if economy is shitty, pay gets reduced no matter what.........nobody is immune to hyperinflation and companies come up with new ways to reduce the payouts.

 

[PK781]

well the other concern is that we have 7 billion of us humans on earth now, and that number is too high for the global ruling elites, they want it trimmed to 500million or something........
That's why we see these AI and wars escalating so max people can be eliminated. Unfortunately the poor/developing countries will end up suffering the most when that happens, and the West is not immune either.

My sympathy for anyone losing a job at this time, its tough out there and things dont look good. My job is outdoors (field IT) which many times means outdoor labour and trust me, Canadian WINTERS are no fun......Summers are great but not winter! Its a tough gig i so wish i had a WFH job lol