The first version of OpenAI's ChatGPT opened for public use when I was just beginning 8th grade. At first, no one quite knew what to make of it, being a new technology, like an fresh oyster waiting to be cracked open.
Then, my classmates and many others my age across the U.S. started realizing ChatGPT could write artificially generated essays, which could conveniently be submitted as valid classwork and homework assignments. And not just essays- AI generated summaries, poems, JavaScript code, scripts, on and on and on.
But why stop in the classroom? ChatGPT and generative AI was ready to disrupt the entire global market. People were PANICKING about AI lawyers, content creation, and that AI would "take over all of their jobs".
Most of us were deathly afraid this new technology would destroy most blue collar jobs and every white collar job at best, and end any possibility to get a job at worst.
But I'm not in 8th grade anymore. More than two years have passed, and despite some market disruption, life has basically gone on as usual.
So what happened then?
The "Life Cycle" of Innovation
This is the usual cycle of things when it comes to innovation in the modern world. In fact, it follows a quite a predictable cycle of life.
In this case, ChatGPT was introduced to the market. People feared ChatGPT would destroy the market and take over all of their jobs. People got used to ChatGPT over time. Life went on as usual, and even got BETTER with ChatGPT around.
But replace "ChatGPT" with any other modern innovation, and you'll see what I mean.
_______ was introduced to the market. People feared _________ would destroy the market and take over all of their jobs. People got used to _______ over time. Life went on as usual, and even got BETTER with _______ around.
Car factory automation, crop farm machines, the typewriter, online newspapers, downloadable songs, all follow this EXACT same mantra.
And yet, folks keep fear-mongering, saying that "THIS TIME" will be the last time the cycle repeats, and that "this time" *insert new innovation here* will take over our jobs FOR REAL.
But it never happens. And it never will.
Why Didn't Farming "Take Over" Our Jobs 12,000 Years Ago?
Think about this way. 300,000 years ago, the first humans' only goal was to find and gather as much food as possible. For nomads like them, this usually meant gathering berries, nuts, and whatever rodent meant they could scavenge. Calories were low for these first humans, and mortality rates couldn't be higher.
But around 12,000 years ago, some humans in the Fertile Cresent discovered something uniquely interesting.
These SAME plants they were gathering could be PLANTED back into wet soil and magically produce these same edible plants just a few months later! Volia! The one problem both humans and every organism on earth (the lack of food) had up until this point was solved!
Now, only a small minority of the population had to make food, compared to nearly 100% from just a few thousand years prior.
All of our needs were SOLVED now, right? Now humans could just sit back and relax, watching the animal kingdom duke it out over scraps of food, while us humans kicked back with our enormous piles of grain grown unnaturally. No need to stress or work!
And yet, now that human needs were completely solved, new jobs were created. We started creating new medicines, new factories, and new commodities.
In fact, we can see the EXACT same mantra play out:
Farming was introduced to the market. People feared farming would destroy the market and take over all of their jobs. People got used to farming over time. Life went on as usual, and even got BETTER with farming around.
And there's a reason why we didn't just "sit back and relax" those 12,000 years ago. Once human NEEDS were initially satisfied, that was all well and good, but WE weren't satisfied. Part of this simply has to do with innate human nature, always wanting MORE.
How Humanity's "Pursuit of Happiness" Drives Innovation
Even when modern folks win the Powerball lottery, every single "winner" feels completely normal after a few months, after getting used to the feeling of being rich.
It's an endless "hedonic treadmill" that's uniquely human, that leaves us with an unquenchable thirst for more. (Religion and God is often used by faith followers to quench that thirst permanently, but that's a topic for another post)
America is one of the most perfect examples for this. Our motto is quite literally "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." We in fact have such a surplus of food that its HARDER for American citizens to starve than to gain weight.
And yet, even with such abundance, Americans still innovate and still work in the "pursuit of happiness."
ANIMALS don't possess this trait either, at least not that we can see.
And it's not because animals are constantly worried for basic survival, and simply "don't have the time" for pursuing greater happiness. Dogs and cats living as PETS have the lives of royalty in the modern world, with their every need being taken care of, and have no desire to change in the way that humans do.
Where am I going with this? Well, my point is that-
As long as human GREED never ceases, our innovation won't cease, and neither will our JOB opportunities. And in many ways, that's a good thing.
Even if AI managed to take over EVERY single human job, we'd simply create more, if not just to keep us busy. ("Cut off one head, two more shall take its place")
But that's probably never going to happen anyways. At least, I would certainly hope so.
One last note- if you enjoyed reading this, the absolute BEST way you could help me out is by sharing this blog with friends. With the magic of Google AdSense, more clicks means more support for this blog and passion project.
Use this link- thepennyofficial.blogspot.com to share on Instagram, WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook (if anyone under the age of 40 still uses that), Snapchat, you get the point. Anything helps, and I couldn’t thank you more. Once again, thanks for reading The Penny.
Comments
Post a Comment