the AI takeover ?

[TrueStudentOfPython]

Hello all,

Is anyone concerned about what the next 20 years of programming looks like with A.I. in the picture ? Do you feel like there will be a massive loss of jobs ? Tell me yours thoughts :)


# LONG LIVE PYTHON

[Larz60+]

concerned? No excited: Yes

2011 prediction:

“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty–a fad.”

The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903.+

or:

“That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced.” – Scientific American, Jan. 2 edition, 1909

.

Like it or not, AI is here to stay, and with the new deep learning approach is moving forward at a tremendous rate.

[ichabod801]

I think there will be economic problems due to AI, but it's too hard to predict. As Larz points out, we're not very good at predicting the future. It's nice to have a supercomputer in my pocket, but where's my flying car?

However, I think it's wrong to blame the economic problems on AI. I think AI, like robotics, is going to exert more pressure on the weak points of our economic system, and it's those weak points that are the problem.

[j.crater]

20 years is not too far away, but not that close either. I wouldn't expect a dramatic change in software industry area, but as we figured, we're not good at predicting future :)

However, I think it's wrong to blame the economic problems on AI. I think AI, like robotics, is going to exert more pressure on the weak points of our economic system, and it's those weak points that are the problem.

@ichabod801 - Can you clarify what you mean by the weak points? Is it whole industries? Some companies? Parts of public sector? A class of population/labourers?

[Larz60+]

One thing to feel comfortable about is this:
for every software package written by a single software engineer, it will take 10 to maintain it over the years of it's life.
So keep writing AI!

[ichabod801]

Can you clarify what you mean by the weak points?

Back in the dark ages we had monarchies - governments for the few. Now we have democracies - governments for the many. Certainly this has not fixed everything, but I think it is good that modern governments aim to be for a broader range of people. Our economies, however, are still very feudal. They are economies for the few. We need economies that are for a broader range of people, without stifling the naturally selected urge for dominance.

Part of this bumps up against another problem with our economies in that they are very short sighted. Companies aren't looking at the next century, much less the next decade. They're looking at the next quarter. But the main thing pushing against that weakness is an expanding population in a finite space. Eventually we will be unable to sustain the current level of consumerism.

[metulburr]

Hello all, Is anyone concerned about what the next 20 years of programming looks like with A.I. in the picture ? Do you feel like there will be a massive loss of jobs ? Tell me yours thoughts :) # LONG LIVE PYTHON

20 years is not that far off. I remember watching "back to the future" and thinking about flying cars in 2015. And that was 30 years in the future. I personally think its going to take a lot longer than that.

Do i think there is a problem. Yes. Do i have my opinion of the solution. No. On one hand if i owned McDonalds and had to pay out a minimum of $15/hour, i would just buy robots to do the work instead also. On the other hand knowing that it's a staple of job for teenagers, what is there to replace it for them?

Maybe our grandkids will go straight from high school into computer science instead of fast food. Or maybe the economy crashes as we have miles of people standing in line for food. Who knows. And we wont know either until it happens. Or at least until it gets closer.

I have a dark opinion of the world. Overpopulation, mass shootings, nuclear war, asteroid collision, human extinction, etc. Robots taking some jobs seems to be able to adjust itself out compared to the others. And its something that you are I cannot change, so there is no sense in raising your blood pressure about it.

[Larz60+]

20 years is not that far off.

I bought my car 20 years ago, with luck, I'd like to drive it for another 20, but it's beginning to show signs of age.
Seems like last week when I bought it!

[Truman]

Thinking about 20 years ago when I was 12...if I'm not mistaken AI development existed back in those days too. And Deep Blue defeated Kasparov. So for these 20 years ( 1998-2018 ) we didn't have so many dramatical changes and I don't think we'll have in next 20. The only thing that scares me a bit are climate changes.
So...let's see what will happen. See you on this topic in 20 years!

[Larz60+]

AI development existed back in those days too

It did, but not even close to the form that it has taken today.
Since machine learning approach, AI has truly become AI

I wrote an expert system for diagnosing problems with a point of sale register.
At the time it was considered 'State of the Art' or 'Hair of the Dog' or whatever the stupid saying of the time was.
Expert systems were cool, but not at all like what we have today. And it's only just beginning!

I saw that MIT has developed the very first airplane with an ION engine, (No moving parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boB6qu5dcCw
(if interested). I'm sure this will advance rapidly with the application of AI.

I would like to be around fifty years from now, just to see what's next.