11mo ago

Discussion: impact of AI on (your) work

Hello folks. I want to hear your opinions about the advances in AI and how it makes you feel. This is a community about privacy, so I already kind of know that you're against it, at least when AI is implemented in such a way that it violates peoples' privacy.

I recently attended a work-related event and the conclusion was that AI will come and change everything in our field. A field which has been generally been dominated by human work, although various software has been used for it. Without revealing too much, the event was for people who with texts. I'm a student, but the event was for people working in the field I plan to work in in the future. The speakers did not talk about privacy concerns (not in detail, at least) or things such as micro work (people who get paid very little to clean illegal content in AI training data, for example).

You probably can guess that that I care about privacy: I'm writing this on Lemmy, for a privacy community. I'm a Linux user (the first distro I used was Ubuntu 10.04) and I transitioned to Linux as my daily driver in November last year. I care about the Open Source community (most of the programs I used on Windows were FOSS). I donate to the programs I use. I use a privacy-respecting search engine, use uBlock and Privacy Badger on Firefox. I use a secure instant messenger and detest Facebook. But that's where it ends, because I use a stock Android phone. But at least I care about these things and I'm eager to learn more. When it comes to privacy, I'm pretty woke, for the lack of a better word.

But AI is coming, or rather, it's already here. Granted, people who talked at that event were somewhat biased, as they worked in the AI industry, so even if they weren't marketing ChatGPT, they were trying to hype up the industry. But apparently, AI can already help so called knowledge workers. It can help in brainstorming and generating ideas. It can produce translations, it can summarize texts, it can give tips...

The bottom line seems to be that I need to start using AI, because either I will use it and keep my job in the future, or I will not use it and risk being made redundant by AI at some point in time.

But I want to get other perspectives. What are your views on AI, and has it affected your job, and if so, how? I know some people have said here that AI is just a bunch of algorithms and that it's just hype and that the bubble will burst eventually. But until it does, it seems it'll have a pretty big impact on how things work. Can we choose to ignore it?

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20 comments

I work in university admissions and the programs require a motivation letter. While absolutely hating writing Cover letters or motivations myself, I do see the advantages for admission (although I absolutely hate the system).
Mainly it is a great way to give applicants with weaker grades a shot. And a good motivation letter where I get a feeling for who they are will put them almost always automatically higher in my recommendations. However, I am so sick of the same ChatGPT motivation. And it is always the same. Oh you honed your ability to do this? Your drawn because of that? I have read your letter 50 times before. And I don’t mean the contents. Let’s be real, most do not have an inspiring story about why they want to study, and that is okay, the program sounding good is a perfectly valid reason. But show me who you are (or what you want me to think who you are). I really developed an adverse reaction to these AI letters. I hate them because I know I’m reading a robots “thoughts”. By all means use the tools available to polish but don’t polish out your personality.
This will lead to motivation letters being abolished. And while for most people that’s great and a CV should speak for itself it will remove chances to get into a prestigious program for people who are not perfect or had the luck to grow up rich.
- That whole motivation letter thing honestly sounds more like AI exposing a flaw in the education system and less like a problem with AI in general.
  You might frame it as people who are not perfect getting a chance but I would frame it as people who are better at words than at exams getting an edge. The genius but socially awkward person still has no chance because the exams bored them to tears and their anxiety prevented them from writing the letter still won't get in.
  
  Boredom is an excuse, reality is no matter where or what you work as there will be boring things involved at some point to some degree. We are hundreds of years past when nobles would sponsor some eclectic dude to do weird science/art just to say they were that weirdos sponsor. You have to be able to work past boredom to function in society.
  A "genius" who can't even write a letter isn't meaningful. How can they communicate their ideas and thoughts if they can't write a letter? If Newton never published Principia would we know him? No, we'd have to wait for the guy who could talk and write.
  
  Counterpoint, most of these social norms, particularly related to academic institutions, are really not about knowledge or skill at all but just to build up a tolerance for the bullshit that office politics, following the letter of instructions without thinking ourselves to stroke a customer/manager's ego and similar things completely unrelated to the actual productivity of companies put us through later in life.

20 comments