Our jobs will be taken by {insert reason}
What do AI doomers and right-wingers have in common?
They fall for the Lump of Labor Fallacy.
The idea behind the misconception is that there’s a finite amount of work to be done, and if event X - let’s take the proliferation of AI (one could also use immigration) happens, many people will lose their jobs, which is catastrophic.
Yet, despite all the technological advances, by late 2019 – right before the onset of COVID – the world had more jobs at higher wages than ever in history. How is that possible if technology replaces us all?
The idea of a finite amount of work is simply wrong. Instead, technological advances create more work and make the economy grow.
Here’s the chain:
Applying the new technology will increase productivity
As the same goods can now be produced at a lower price, the costs go down
With the costs going down, we pay less and have the extra spending power to buy other things
Demand increases, which drives the creation of new production, including jobs and industries that didn’t exist before, which creates more jobs
The result is a bigger economy with more products, material wealth, higher prosperity, and more jobs and industries.
Entrepreneurs will want to meet the rapid demand, creating more products with humans and AI.
And the cycle begins again at step 1
As Milton Friedman noted, “Human wants and needs are endless.”