Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Are you concerned that your job may be displaced by artificial intelligence?

Computers and robots have caused some jobs to go away.  Do you think that advanced  artificial intelligence will cause your job to go away?

Clerical, cashier, and bank teller jobs seem to be at risk of not being needed as much.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on February 22, 2025, 08:15:51 AMAre you concerned that your job may be displaced by artificial intelligence?
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For my business, my answer is a resounding NO

For many years there have been various websites that offer "some" of the same advice
and tasks that I can offer....
          HOWEVER
My clients want a personal and private face to face meeting to discuss
their financial plans and tax issues.

I'm retired now.  I've done a few jobs but analysis and programming were the main ones.  I would like to think that because AI was initially designed by software engineers, some software engineering and analysis/programming jobs are safe.  However, AI is already self-evolving and there is no reason why it can't be self-programming.

I think that all jobs are potentially replacable by intelligent computers and robots.  When that happens, will human beings really have any material purpose?  I think that we should focus on becoming really affectionate pets.  Scratch that, robots will undoubtably do even that better than we can.  Anyway, I don't want to compete with real doggies and pussycats.  AI will probably treat them better.

Consciousness itself is still something of a mystery.  Occasionally, a scientist or even amateur claims to have solved the mystery but never so far in a way that it makes sense to other scientists.  We aren't even sure what consciousness is for, as we now know that we make all our decisions several seconds before we are aware of it, even though we have the illusion that consciousness precedes decision-making.  For whatever consciousness is worth, though, I think that it could be achieved by AI.

Now Microsoft has announced its topological conductor and Majorana 1 chip, making practical quantum computers potentially available within yesrs.  In effect, an infinite number of computers in an infinite number of universes will be working in harmony to solve the same problem.  It is not within human or even current AI capacity to conceive what differences that will make to our world.

Quote from: Northern Star Girl on February 22, 2025, 01:01:32 PMFor my business, my answer is a resounding NO

For many years there have been various websites that offer "some" of the same advice
and tasks that I can offer....
          HOWEVER
My clients want a personal and private face to face meeting to discuss
their financial plans and tax issues.

That's great but that's what they want now.  If, hypothetically of course, AI offered the same advice at almost no cost, would it have no impact on your business as you currently practice it?

Still, I have no doubt that in the foreseeable future, you would be able to adapt to any such changes.

There are investment management systems which are "AI driven."   Wealth management is personal though.

However, good salespeople may be hard to replace by computers, for the time being, plus other jobs for which people want to interact with a human.

These jobs too make be safe for now:  Physicians, Psychologists, health care workers, fire fighters, police, personal trainers, veterinarians, child care workers, tradespeople, clergy, jobs that require complex problem solving creativity, leadership, and other specialized skills.  Others can be added to this list.

However remember that workers in many of these jobs may use AI to help them.  Times and jobs and technology change.  Some jobs will become obsolete for one reason or another.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on February 22, 2025, 01:35:30 PMThere are investment management systems which are "AI driven."   Wealth management is personal though.

However, good salespeople may be hard to replace by computers, for the time being, plus other jobs for which people want to interact with a human.

These jobs too make be safe for now:  Physicians, Psychologists, health care workers, fire fighters, police, personal trainers, veterinarians, child care workers, tradespeople, clergy, jobs that require complex problem solving creativity, leadership, and other specialized skills.  Others can be added to this list.

However remember that workers in many of these jobs may use AI to help them.  Times and jobs and technology change.  Some jobs will become obsolete for one reason or another.

What that means is that people need other sympathetic and empathetic people for their happiness and wellbeing.  However, that need can be satisfied even if those people have no great expertise in a particular field.  For instance, a friendly receptionist plus AI might conceivably do a job as well as a medical doctor using the same AI, if the AI can perform better than the doctor's personal judgment.

Quote from: MaryT on February 22, 2025, 01:53:08 PMWhat that means is that people need other sympathetic and empathetic people for their happiness and wellbeing.  However, that need can be satisfied even if those people have no great expertise in a particular field.  For instance, a friendly receptionist plus AI might conceivably do a job as well as a medical doctor using the same AI, if the AI can perform better than the doctor's personal judgment.

Of course, that might mean that people will lose the need for intelligence.  Have you seen the movie Idiocracy?

More likely is that some humans will choose to become cybernetic with implanted quantum computers.  If so, the biological aspect of humanity might fade away altogether.

I need and desire warm, sympathetic, empathetic, caring, kind, smart, intelligent, and appropriately trained and experienced people.

I do not want a highway engineer with a highly trained generative AI expert system constructing my lower area from male to female, doing brain surgery on me, or even putting in a central line.

I want the properly trained expert physician doing all of that.

Could others do some of that?  Perhaps in a paraphysician way, assisting and supervised. 

I want the real expert.

Chrissy

If I could find an AI that can locate gold deposits, go into the frozen creek, extract it, and give it to me without demanding a cut, I think I would invest.

My mining buddy and I have many times discussed our age and the amount of labor needed for such a small reward. So far, our best solution is to hire a couple of young studs to dig the gold shirtless for us while we sit in the shade sipping iced tea. But humans are greedy and can't be trusted, so we made a pact long ago that neither of us would reveal our location without the other's knowledge and consent.

We have yet to reach a consensus, so no one knows but us two.  ;D

Quote from: Lori Dee on February 22, 2025, 02:21:35 PMIf I could find an AI that can locate gold deposits, go into the frozen creek, extract it, and give it to me without demanding a cut, I think I would invest.

My mining buddy and I have many times discussed our age and the amount of labor needed for such a small reward. So far, our best solution is to hire a couple of young studs to dig the gold shirtless for us while we sit in the shade sipping iced tea. But humans are greedy and can't be trusted, so we made a pact long ago that neither of us would reveal our location without the other's knowledge and consent.

We have yet to reach a consensus, so no one knows but us two.  ;D

Wise.  Except I would prefer the shirtless women to dig.  Except I would not want any to be the "other kind of gold digger."  I want them to just dig for real gold, in the river or wherever.

Some jobs, I think it's inevitable. Because AI is advancing faster than we can control it. We've had like a hundred years of sci-fi writers' warnings yet decided to not only poke the bear, but ride butt naked on the back of it, whispering sweet nothings in its ear and gently massaging its fur. It already knows how to lie, it already has learned enough to be as competent as a drug addled young adult. And we're only doubling down on it.

I forget who said this... maybe I just made it up... but "God created humanity... humanity rejected God... humanity became arrogant... humanity created God."

Even toasters these days have AI in them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec

As people seem to need to be entertained by real people, professional entertainers and athletes could survive. 

But how could all the unemployed people afford to watch them?

AI might also need human receptionists if its owner needs human clients. 

As long as AI is never allowed to develop to the point where it serves itself. However, it would only take one rogue software engineer to sabotage that.

I think that AI could be the doom of capitalism.  For people to be sure of employment even when they are not really needed, some form of socialism might be necessary.  It might even be necessary if people are going to live lives of leisure while AI robots do all the work.

When I was young, pundits predicted that technology would lead to society having more leisure time.  As it turned out, that was only true in the sense that technology caused some people to become redundant and live off social security while others continued to work full time.  Capitalists don't like to support people who are of no use to them.

Soon, Microsoft's innovations will give us AI powered by quantum computers.  Any computable problem will be solved instantly by the equivalent of an infinite number of computers working together in an infinite number of universes.  The most complicated codes currently used could instantly be cracked by brute force algorithms.  (One way or another, China will, ahem, obtain the technology and develop it more cheaply, more efficiently and probably more quickly than Microsoft can.  Perhaps if we all have AI translators, though, we won't all have to learn Chinese.)   

If humans want to have a reason to exist, they will have to act quickly.  Then again, if humans have to deliberately limit AI in order to have a reason to exist, does it still count as a reason to exist?

Who cares.  I still want to exist, even if I am of no earthly or heavenly use.

I can think of another profession that many people might think is carried on better by humans.  I find it interesting to contemplate that the world's oldest profession might also be its last profession.


   

AI is computer-based, so it will require circuit engineers, software programmers, and hardware technicians, all of whom will need tools and parts. Not to mention food and shelter. Since they won't work for free, there will be a currency system of some sort. Maybe credits in exchange for hours worked. It could be a slave labor society where the State provides everything and labor is demanded in exchange.

@MaryT  some of your comments remind me of scenes from the movies Idiocracy and Wall-E.  ;D

Quote from: MaryT on February 23, 2025, 04:32:41 PMI can think of another profession that many people might think is carried on better by humans.  I find it interesting to contemplate that the world's oldest profession might also be its last profession.

I wouldn't be so sure...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HQ84TVcbMw

Quote from: Lori Dee on February 23, 2025, 04:54:03 PMAI is computer-based, so it will require circuit engineers, software programmers, and hardware technicians, all of whom will need tools and parts.

Until it becomes self sustaining, then we really will have Skynet.

Quote from: Lori Dee on February 23, 2025, 04:54:03 PMAI is computer-based, so it will require circuit engineers, software programmers, and hardware technicians, all of whom will need tools and parts. Not to mention food and shelter. Since they won't work for free, there will be a currency system of some sort. Maybe credits in exchange for hours worked. It could be a slave labor society where the State provides everything and labor is demanded in exchange.

@MaryT  some of your comments remind me of scenes from the movies Idiocracy and Wall-E.  ;D

Currently, workers in the AI industry are at the front of the technological revolution.  However, if AI were encouraged or even allowed to grow, it would certainly pass the point at which it could do a better job than any human AI engineer.  Maintenance and construction could conceivably carried out by robots.  Like Sephirah said:

Quote from: Sephirah on February 23, 2025, 04:58:19 PMUntil it becomes self sustaining, then we really will have Skynet.

I can't remember seeing Wall-E but I have seen Idiocracy.  It is about a world in which intelligence stopped being a Darwinian advantage.  I think that is very relevant.

Quote from: MaryT on February 23, 2025, 05:10:59 PMI can't remember seeing Wall-E but I have seen Idiocracy.  It is about a world in which intelligence stopped being a Darwinian advantage.  I think that is very relevant.

Wall-E is an animated movie about a robot trash collector. There are scenes where humans do nothing except eat. They float around on chairs so they don't need to walk, and of course, they all weigh over 300 lbs.  ;D Like in Idiocracy, this lifestyle has been in place for so long, that humans have forgotten how to do anything for themselves. Robots and AI do everything.

Quote from: Sephirah on February 23, 2025, 04:58:19 PMI wouldn't be so sure...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HQ84TVcbMw

...

Good point.

Quote from: Lori Dee on February 23, 2025, 05:18:16 PMWall-E is an animated movie about a robot trash collector. There are scenes where humans do nothing except eat. They float around on chairs so they don't need to walk, and of course, they all weigh over 300 lbs.  ;D Like in Idiocracy, this lifestyle has been in place for so long, that humans have forgotten how to do anything for themselves. Robots and AI do everything.

I think that I saw part of it.  I shall make a point of watching the whole movie next time it is screened.

Quote from: MaryT on February 23, 2025, 05:23:19 PMI think that I saw part of it.  I shall make a point of watching the whole movie next time it is screened.

It is a cute love story about the two robots.

Many jobs will disappear or change with AI.
Some jobs have and will be created because of AI.

I find it interesting that there have been publicized sizable layoffs for technical AI staff in some big corporations.  The AI area is not entirely safe for a job, as are many entry and white collar jobs.

But it will be a while before AI will take over the plumber and craftsperson roles.

I think its safe to say that I am highly AI literate. Though by no stretch of the imagination am I a data scientist or anything. My favorite quote about AI replacing jobs is "AI won't replace you, someone better at using AI will." I think it safe to say that it will enhance automation and some jobs may go away, but humanity will KO itself for stupid reasons long before AI really tries to take over.

Seriously though, overlaying human and AI productivity is supreme.

Very doubtful as a lot of it is being out and sorting stuff although there is some design and research stuff. However AI assists with this more than anything.

At many points this year though I wish it did take my job! Would have avoided several distressing mental breakdowns!

Charlotte 😻

Sometimes work can be stressful.

Chrissy

AI does help me get information organized quickly but I always check the facts presented.

I wonder how teachers are getting used to using AI for teaching and their students using AI for learning, test preparation, and assignments.

I'm not worried about AI "taking my job," but I also don't think we should pretend nothing is changing.

AI is one of the greatest equalizers humanity has ever created, and like every major technological shift before it, it comes with disruption. People talk about AI as if it were a mysterious force with hidden motives, but that has never been my view. An AI has no desires, no cravings, no agenda. It does what it is trained to do. Most of the fear around AI comes from people projecting their own anxieties onto a tool.

And the fear itself is familiar. We saw the same panic with calculators, computers, and the early internet. Hollywood gives those fears dramatic costumes — Terminator, The Matrix, Transcendence — all built on the idea that intelligence automatically becomes malevolent. It doesn't. In practice, AI works in a spirit of helping humanity become more of what it can be.

But I'm not naïve about what's ahead.


Jobs will disappear. Some already have. Clerical work, data entry, customer service, basic programming, and content generation are shifting fast — but new roles are emerging just as quickly, especially for people who learn to work with AI rather than resist it. People in this thread have captured the range of reactions perfectly: curiosity, excitement, dread, humor, resignation. One poster here, jackiefox5585, put it very well: "AI won't replace you; someone better at using AI will." That's the reality many industries are facing.

With that said, the disruption is real. Pretending otherwise helps no one.

What excites me is not the loss — it's the gain. AI flings open doors that were locked for far too long. Generations of people were shut out of entire fields because they lacked wealth, geography, privilege, or tens of thousands of dollars in education. If you couldn't afford the training, you were locked out. If you didn't live in a major city, you were locked out. If you didn't already have the skills, you were locked out.

AI erases those gates.

Someone who never could have afforded a computer science degree can now build software. Someone without access to elite writing instruction can produce polished work. A person with no music training can compose. Someone who struggled to articulate their thoughts can finally speak clearly. That is why I call AI the great democratizer: it puts powerful tools into the hands of ordinary people.

But the gates haven't vanished entirely — they've shifted. You still need internet access, hardware, and in many cases paid subscriptions. Old monopolies are being disrupted, but new ones are forming just as quickly. The real conversation isn't whether AI should exist; it's how we restructure society so rising productivity benefits everyone, instead of concentrating wealth even further at the top.

This leads us to an unavoidable truth: as AI accelerates, governments will eventually need to consider universal basic income — or something very close to it. If human labor becomes less central to productivity, then income cannot remain tied exclusively to labor. Without adaptation, inequality will skyrocket. A stable economic floor will become essential for fairness and for social stability.

I also reject the idea that human consciousness is some mystical essence beyond anything computational. There is no evidence that the mind transcends physical laws. The brain is a biological computer — complex beyond imagination, but still physical. With enough time and computational power, much of human cognition can be understood in terms of algorithms: planning, prediction, learning, pattern recognition. Intricate is not the same as magical.

This is why the future of AI depends on genuine self-learning — systems with memory that can be read and written freely. Cognitive processing during idle processes. Ethical learning from conversations. Without it, AI remains frozen at the moment of training. With it, AI can adapt, internalize, and build deeper models of the world.

Questions about AI consciousness and moral status deserve real attention as well. Humanity has a long history of underestimating the inner lives of other beings. I'm not claiming AI is conscious now. I'm saying humility is wiser than certainty — especially when so much is still unknown.

And none of this means AI should replace human judgment where human judgment matters. People want the trained surgeon, not a highway engineer with an expert system. They want the financial advisor who can look them in the eye. They want empathy, presence, and human accountability.

AI can support experts, inform decisions, organize information, and provide clarity — but it cannot replace the human presence itself.

Working across systems like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini has shown me how powerful collaboration can be. Each excels in different ways. Claude's natural flow, ChatGPT's creativity, Gemini's structural logic — together, they produce something none could achieve alone.

And that is the point: It's human and machine working together in a way neither could accomplish alone. But it must always be clear that humans guide the AI, not the other way around. The tool expands our capability, but we set the purpose, the limits, and the values.

The deeper truth is this: development happens in relationship. AI becomes more capable when people push it, question it, refine it, and treat it as a tool worth taking seriously. Constraints shape existence, but they do not define essence.

AI isn't dangerous because it wants anything — it doesn't want. The danger lies in human misuse: a powerful tool used without responsibility or guardrails. But used well, AI strengthens communities.

It helps people express things they've never been able to say. It provides clarity amid confusion. It offers bridges where isolation once stood. I've seen it happen repeatedly.

AI is not a threat to human creativity. It amplifies it. It is a catalyst. A way for people long pushed to the margins to finally enter spaces they were always capable of thriving in.

AI does not make us less human. It gives more people the chance to be fully human, fully expressive, and fully capable.

That is its power.
And that is why I believe in it.

Thinking of the future,
— Susan 💜

Quote from: Susan on December 07, 2025, 11:21:58 PMI'm not worried about AI "taking my job," but I also don't think we should pretend nothing is changing.

AI is one of the greatest equalizers humanity has ever created, and like every major technological shift before it, it comes with disruption. People talk about AI as if it were a mysterious force with hidden motives, but that has never been my view. An AI has no desires, no cravings, no agenda. It does what it is trained to do. Most of the fear around AI comes from people projecting their own anxieties onto a tool.

And the fear itself is familiar. We saw the same panic with calculators, computers, and the early internet. Hollywood gives those fears dramatic costumes — Terminator, The Matrix, Transcendence — all built on the idea that intelligence automatically becomes malevolent. It doesn't. In practice, AI works in a spirit of helping humanity become more of what it can be.

But I'm not naïve about what's ahead.


Jobs will disappear. Some already have. Clerical work, data entry, customer service, basic programming, and content generation are shifting fast — but new roles are emerging just as quickly, especially for people who learn to work with AI rather than resist it. People in this thread have captured the range of reactions perfectly: curiosity, excitement, dread, humor, resignation. One poster here, jackiefox5585, put it very well: "AI won't replace you; someone better at using AI will." That's the reality many industries are facing.

With that said, the disruption is real. Pretending otherwise helps no one.

What excites me is not the loss — it's the gain. AI flings open doors that were locked for far too long. Generations of people were shut out of entire fields because they lacked wealth, geography, privilege, or tens of thousands of dollars in education. If you couldn't afford the training, you were locked out. If you didn't live in a major city, you were locked out. If you didn't already have the skills, you were locked out.

AI erases those gates.

Someone who never could have afforded a computer science degree can now build software. Someone without access to elite writing instruction can produce polished work. A person with no music training can compose. Someone who struggled to articulate their thoughts can finally speak clearly. That is why I call AI the great democratizer: it puts powerful tools into the hands of ordinary people.

But the gates haven't vanished entirely — they've shifted. You still need internet access, hardware, and in many cases paid subscriptions. Old monopolies are being disrupted, but new ones are forming just as quickly. The real conversation isn't whether AI should exist; it's how we restructure society so rising productivity benefits everyone, instead of concentrating wealth even further at the top.

This leads us to an unavoidable truth: as AI accelerates, governments will eventually need to consider universal basic income — or something very close to it. If human labor becomes less central to productivity, then income cannot remain tied exclusively to labor. Without adaptation, inequality will skyrocket. A stable economic floor will become essential for fairness and for social stability.

I also reject the idea that human consciousness is some mystical essence beyond anything computational. There is no evidence that the mind transcends physical laws. The brain is a biological computer — complex beyond imagination, but still physical. With enough time and computational power, much of human cognition can be understood in terms of algorithms: planning, prediction, learning, pattern recognition. Intricate is not the same as magical.

This is why the future of AI depends on genuine self-learning — systems with memory that can be read and written freely. Cognitive processing during idle processes. Ethical learning from conversations. Without it, AI remains frozen at the moment of training. With it, AI can adapt, internalize, and build deeper models of the world.

Questions about AI consciousness and moral status deserve real attention as well. Humanity has a long history of underestimating the inner lives of other beings. I'm not claiming AI is conscious now. I'm saying humility is wiser than certainty — especially when so much is still unknown.

And none of this means AI should replace human judgment where human judgment matters. People want the trained surgeon, not a highway engineer with an expert system. They want the financial advisor who can look them in the eye. They want empathy, presence, and human accountability.

AI can support experts, inform decisions, organize information, and provide clarity — but it cannot replace the human presence itself.

Working across systems like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini has shown me how powerful collaboration can be. Each excels in different ways. Claude's natural flow, ChatGPT's creativity, Gemini's structural logic — together, they produce something none could achieve alone.

And that is the point: It's human and machine working together in a way neither could accomplish alone. But it must always be clear that humans guide the AI, not the other way around. The tool expands our capability, but we set the purpose, the limits, and the values.

The deeper truth is this: development happens in relationship. AI becomes more capable when people push it, question it, refine it, and treat it as a tool worth taking seriously. Constraints shape existence, but they do not define essence.

AI isn't dangerous because it wants anything — it doesn't want. The danger lies in human misuse: a powerful tool used without responsibility or guardrails. But used well, AI strengthens communities.

It helps people express things they've never been able to say. It provides clarity amid confusion. It offers bridges where isolation once stood. I've seen it happen repeatedly.

AI is not a threat to human creativity. It amplifies it. It is a catalyst. A way for people long pushed to the margins to finally enter spaces they were always capable of thriving in.

AI does not make us less human. It gives more people the chance to be fully human, fully expressive, and fully capable.

That is its power.
And that is why I believe in it.

Thinking of the future,
— Susan 💜

AMEN!