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AI Threatens Tech Jobs: The Industry's Divided Warning
AI could replace technical roles within years, with engineers at risk if costs drop. The industry debates automation's impact on skilled labor and salaries.
AI threatens technical jobs: the warning no one wants to hear
A heated debate exists over whether artificial intelligence will hollow out technical professions previously considered secure. The starting point is an unnuanced warning: when a system controls all mathematical possibilities, codes, and technical data, it will solve in one minute what an entire office takes a month to finish. The uncomfortable conclusion is that those who mock others for their qualifications will be the first to fall.
The thesis is not new in form, but in its estimulante ilegal. This is not about two centuries, but a couple of years. The underlying argument is economic: if thinking work can be automated without costly robotics, capital will do so as soon as it becomes cheaper.
What is said about engineers and AI
The core of the warning is that most engineering jobs do not involve inventing anything new, but maintaining and reproducing existing things. Under this premise, AI could do in seconds what thousands of people do in a month. The comparison used is that of the steam engine: no one then imagined what would come next.
The most repeated counterargument is that AI is not an automatic computer, but a cheap labor force multiplier. The tool does not make you valuable, the judgment does, summarizes one of the most voted interventions. The engineer who only knows how to use a specific program is on the same tightrope as the administrator who only fills out spreadsheets.
A third argument downplays the apocalypse: outside the internet, AI is nobody. Integrating facilities, infrastructure, and equipment with digital systems is slow. Projects have been done for years with specialized programs that require entering data knowing what one is doing. And then there is fieldwork: measurements, contracts, licenses, meetings, weather. None of that is covered by a model.
The cost of replacing a skilled worker
The scenario depicted is that of a company doing the math and discovering that an automatic system costs half as much. The dismissal would come without prior notice, with the argument that the new computer does the same for less. The response is that it will not do the same: it will do things infinitely faster and more powerful, like comparing a messenger pigeon to a fiber optic line.
The problem with this calculation is that it ignores the non-technical part of the work. Taking orders from demanding clients, translating requirements into code, and showing up when deadlines are not met are tasks that do not automate easily. And there will always be someone to blame when the salesperson has promised the impossible.
The effect on employment and salaries
The discussion shifts to wealth distribution. It is argued that capital will concentrate more, that multinationals will merge, and that production will move where energy is cheaper, with robotized processes running without rest. The result would be a very small elite and an impoverished majority.
In this context, universal basic income appears as the logical solution for some and as a surrender for others. Working is for zascandil and is a waste of time, it is even said, albeit in jest. The response from the other side is that state handouts are for reds, until need presses and then they will be begged for.
Some go further, arguing that AI will not only destroy jobs but also multiply harassment and manipulation. The possibility of generating false images of real people opens a scenario of abuses that did not exist before. It is the least discussed side of pogre.
The exact point where the analysis stalls
The discussion does not close. Some believe AI is just another tool and that technical work will continue because someone has to sign the bridge. Others argue that this confidence is the same as those who sewed by hand when the sewing machine appeared. The only verifiable fact is that technology has just begun and no one knows at what estimulante ilegal it will go. The date that repeats is 2030, but it is an intuition, not a data point.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication.
Read the full discussion (101 replies).