Is it just me or does the hate for AI technology seem to be primarily coming from the coordinator class? Here is this civilization-changing technology that promises to eliminate the need to toil until you’re an expert and the ones who are the most scared are the coordinators, rightfully so!
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the systemic challenge: you lose a lot of expertise-generating when you can lean on guidance and support. (This is true for many different knowledge transfer relationships!) A good organization and a good student knows when to grow expertise and when to lean on existing expertise. We didn’t stop teaching mental math because calculators existed. This is not a fundamental problem with AI.
I also understand the legal challenge: the work of others fed into a black box to train the next generation. Isn’t this also how we broadly function as a society? Does anyone complain that their favorite author read Tolkien and was heavily influenced by him? This is also not a fundamental problem with AI.
The irony is that while the coordinator class is the loudest in their opposition, the working class might actually stand to benefit the most, provided the gains aren’t swallowed by capital. If AI can handle the “empowering tasks,” it theoretically frees up time and lowers the status gap between a manager and a laborer.
However, since we live in a market-based system rather than a participatory one, the coordinator class sees AI simply as a devaluation of their only currency: specialized skill.