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Antiwork

AI and Your Job

Just a PSA for those doing any knowledge job: you're probably not being told, but your actual job is temporary, you are actually training your replacement while you work. Your AI replacement. For example, right now I am working on a public-facing project for a large, well-known company making $340 an hour, sharing very specific expertise with clients of that service. I answer all sorts of very specific questions asked by clients, in great detail, allowing them to solve their problems. On a text-based app. I'm a software developer myself so it's fairly easy for me to look behind the curtain. I know what patents they've filed. I know their cash flow and revenue projections (publicly traded.) I've discussed behind-the-scene technology for some of their current development with other programmers. On this particular project I'm not a developer; I'm sharing expertise unrelated to software. But I've never been told that…


Just a PSA for those doing any knowledge job: you're probably not being told, but your actual job is temporary, you are actually training your replacement while you work. Your AI replacement.

For example, right now I am working on a public-facing project for a large, well-known company making $340 an hour, sharing very specific expertise with clients of that service. I answer all sorts of very specific questions asked by clients, in great detail, allowing them to solve their problems. On a text-based app.

I'm a software developer myself so it's fairly easy for me to look behind the curtain. I know what patents they've filed. I know their cash flow and revenue projections (publicly traded.) I've discussed behind-the-scene technology for some of their current development with other programmers.

On this particular project I'm not a developer; I'm sharing expertise unrelated to software. But I've never been told that they are paying me well in order to train an AI. I'm not stupid! They recruited me to be available to respond to specific client needs in a chat system and which collects data on how well I help the clients obtain specific outcomes.

I find myself working with clients at a huge range of capacities, such as just starting out and having little to no experience, up to those seeking deep information at a high level. So those at the starting level get my extensive, streamlined training in key concepts, while those advanced get my assistance in nuanced issues at a very deep level. (Sort of Elementary School level, up through Graduate College level.)

So, be aware: if you are getting paid well to explain things that are asked in the form of question/answer, such as a support system, you are almost certainly training their AI. Of course, the management (most likely) isn't telling you this.

If you think that working for a smaller business is shielding you from this possibility, think again. As a developer I have two small business clients who are collecting data to feed into a domain-specific chat AI. I'm talking small businesses, under $3m annual income.

We're right on the edge of another fairly major shift in job opportunities and professions, similar to when farming–which used to be very labor intensive–became a lot more mechanized, so a few large conglomerate farms are able to replace hundreds of small farms, thus a tiny percentage of the previous workforce is now needed.

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