Dave Martin

In the brief period between AI becoming smarter (and funnier) than us and can innovate better than us, process information quicker than us, do every job better than us, and the moment it realises humans are no longer needed for anything, there’s going to be little bit of time where the only thing people will have to worry about is how the fuck to coexist with robots in a world where we’re not needed at all (ie. how to live).

Go on, tell me… Once the thing below happens, what’ll AI need us for? Our emotions? Our looks? The fact we only understand about 10% –if that– of the one thing we use that makes us human (our brain)? Yuk.

So between the time after we’re all on universal basic income and getting money just to be alive, and the short amount of time before AI says ‘Bye bye now’¹. and annihilates us all in the blink of an eye in a way we can’t even imagine (kind of like an ant trying to understand the internet), the only jobs that are going to be done by humans, will be jobs that deal with what makes us existentially human.

The handful of jobs that will be soon² be the only ones left for us to do

Counsellors, therapists, psychologists, philosophy professors³. These will be the only ones jobs left for us, that AI cannot do. Those that involve human emotions, stuff AI can’t possibly work out (or will it? Then we’re fucked much sooner than expected) or be fucked working out, because.. well, because why?

My conservative guess is that this happens in 100 years, but as with all technology, with how quick AI learns, you might be able to half that projection (or more).

Either way though, the period between AI becoming our masters, understanding it no longer needs us and then destroying the human race may be fucking short as shit (what’s the point of keeping us around? For our cuteness? AI could give a fuck about that). My conservative guess is about two weeks. So that’s not a long time to capitalise on working in one of the few areas left for humans. It might be a sweet two weeks, either way though.

¹ Another misguided assumption that AI will give a shit about being polite.
² Soon, as in the context of overall time elapsed in history.
³ Is this the reason I’m going back to school to get a phD in philosophy and eventually teach it? Not really, but could be a bonus one day. For two weeks, that is.