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If you weren't already worried about being replaced by artificial intelligence, you probably should be. The recent uptick in AI has those working in industries ranging from journalism to finance, customer service to manufacturing, worried about their future. Even the entertainment industry is quaking in its boots as actors and voice actors are worried they'll soon be replaced by AI versions of themselves.
We've seen enough 'AI slop' being churned out to feel a little safer for now, but with even major brands like Coca-Cola opting for AI-powered Christmas adverts, it all seems to be heading in one direction.
Now, a famed physicist has made a concerning prediction about the future and explained why we're destined to be replaced by AI before too long.
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Posting on X, Anthony Aguirre gave his thoughts and said that tech companies investing so much in AI isn't to get our monthly subscription for ChatGPT, but instead, they're playing the long game by knowing that it'll pay off big in the future.
According to Aguirre: "They're doing it because they know your employer will pay hundreds or thousands a month for an AI system to replace you, if and when it can."
We recently covered how OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted he's yet to see the benefits of the $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro due to its massive overheads. Still, the idea is relatively new and is yet to really be used on a commercial scale.
There are already theories that Altman could restrict those who are making the most of ChatGPT Pro's unlimited policy, while others think a massive price hike could be on the way.
Experts have predicted the five jobs that are most at risk of an AI overtake, but according to Aguirre, it could affect even more people than we could imagine.
Although many are currently holding the line and refusing to buckle to the cost-cutting idea of AI, there are questions about how long big companies will hold out.
AI is evolving at an immense pace, and with it constantly learning from humans, there's a real danger that AI could do our jobs just as well for just a fraction of the price.
When Aguirre's post was shared on Reddit, others were left pondering AI's continued rise to power. Someone else added, "'Consumers' as we have them today won’t be needed. One oligarch will simply have a robot farm and a robot mine, and will trade Bitcoin to the guy who has the robot fusion reactor for electricity."
Another mused: "While I don’t believe AI implementation will lead to widespread job loss, I think it’s important to consider that just because something is dumb doesn’t mean they won’t do it."
Not everyone was against the idea, though. Saying it's about time that things change, someone else added: "Jobs are sh*t right now, they should be automated. Hanging on to sh*tty jobs we hate isn't a sign of intelligence, it's just fear. I think the main problem is that most of us in the west were trained to be corporate slaves and now can't see any other way of living."
While it's unclear where things go next, someone else concluded with a warning to all these big organizations: "You’re not going far enough. If employees are replaceable, companies also are."
It's true that while the automation of labor might seem increasingly inevitable, there's also a chance that artificial general intelligence will learn simply to produce goods and services directly.
Even ChatGPT has warned of the dangers of AI, but the question still remains, will the money-conscious companies actually listen?
