a college degree in 2025/2026/2027 ... don't

Christopher Weeks wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:AI doesn't have hands!

Yet.

Even if it does, there is no way it will be successful at hands-on things. My husband has been repairing & renovating homes for 40 years and EVERY job is different. Plumbing & electrical aren't always found in the expected places; older homes are a Frankenstein of repairs done over 80 years with different materials; studs aren't always 16" apart. Does Ai know what's on the other side of a wall? Does it know to find a roof leak by imagining "what if I was water, where would I run down to before actually dripping?" and see where there's a bump that throws it off the expected path? (and do that backwards, actually)
Can Ai climb a ladder and determine what kind of small animal is making that kind of hole and where it's living and how to catch it and repair the hole with the appropriate material that *that* animal can't chew through but not until the babies have left and nothing is living in there anymore? Can it make suggestions to a customer that enhance accessibility for their disabled teenage daughter to start doing things for herself and be helped with some things while having privacy and independence at the same time as well as redecorating for her in a culturally hip way because we see she wants to grow up and her parents are still treating her like a child, so we give sensitive suggestions that make them feel like they're the decision makers even though we're winking to the girl on the side and she's smiling and everyone is happier? No, it can't.
I'm just getting started!
Ai ain't human, and will never replace some things.

What I'm afraid of is the quality-bar being lowered. It seems many people believe Ai can equal or outperform humans in many areas. Customers sometimes look up their problems on YouTube or Google, and think they have the answers when they call us. They tell us what they need or want. Then my husband starts rattling off why that solution won't work for them, or is not the best idea. Some contractors or handymen would just do what they ask, possibly taking a lot of money for a sub-par job. Sometimes they think they "need a whole new" thing for $3000 and my husband says, "Well you can get one if you want but I can fix this one for $300." There are usually options, with pros and cons, and the answer might be different for different people. We almost never walk into a job and just do what the customer says. We can't help brainstorming with them and working as a team with them, and 99% of the time it is appreciated.

Ai will cause people to settle for "good enough" or mediocre, and without interaction with experienced humans, people will not get the best jobs done or get what is truly best for them.
That may happen, because people won't know that's what they're getting, but it will be a sad day.
That's what I mean by the quality bar being lowered.
Robots will seem to be helping but will cause us to live like robots because they are simply not human and can't interact like humans.

True that AI is going to lower standards in some ways. Although AI's relative mediocrity is at least better than a bad plumber or bad other expert, and definitely cheaper! Someone I know has been avoiding needing to call electricians, because the AI tells her how to fix things herself and asks the right questions in ways that are helpful.

It has been rolling around in my head that history is defined not by human effort but by human laziness. There are two ways to be lazy (at least). One goes along these lines generally speaking: to work in the office or the factory or wheresoever, all day long, doing little that is really, tangibly valuable and the work being of questionable consequences, and getting tired nonetheless, and then to come home, flop on the couch, snap at your children, and eat a microwaved TV dinner.

The other way is to be grateful for the gifts of nature, grateful for your ancestors and friends and family, and enjoy the gifts that come to you freely from the earth and from your relations, the best you can.

Both involve laziness and work. The first one involves a good work ethic, where you work hard then get tired and can't muster the energy for what is truly important in life. The second requires that one not be afraid of enjoyment. But because so many people are in a state of perpetual inner turmoil, feelings of insufficiency, and self judgement, they choose the former rather than the latter.