"The question of who demonized work is an important one, for as anyone knows, it can give great joy and be immensely satisfying when it is something one genuinely likes doing. Not much mechanized labor today falls into that category, whether it is sitting in front of a computer or tending a machine in a factory." Nichols Fox, Against the Machine
Much of the AI marketing propaganda actually seeks to demonize work whether it intends to or not in order to sell its products. All the talk about "automation" of tasks is about turning over to a machine work that currently a person is doing. "AI will take away all the tasks you do not enjoy doing," is the promo-rhetoric. That is certainly appetizing, for who certainly does not wish to get rid of those annoying, monotonous tasks that are a part of our everyday lives?
But historically, machinery like AI has done much more than rid humans of those less desirous tasks; it has also replaced genuine, enjoyable, fulfilling work for some. Think about the craftsmen who made things for us before machines took over. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not advocating totally against machines and manufacturing, for unquestionably, a lot of good has come from those things, and I am a person who has benefited from them. I will also add that even craftsmen adopted machines and tools that either replaced undesirable tasks or made their work more timely. But what I am speaking of is just for a bit of sober-minded, critical thinking in the midst of all this AI Hype. I am suggesting that while AI can certainly assist in our work, the central question for me is: "Just what am I willing to outsource to mechanical systems?" "What tasks am I unwilling to give up because it is necessary for me to carry out my work?"
The sales pitch I hear from AI salespersons and AI evangelists is often that "It will make you more efficient. It will save you time" but is the tasks I am engaged in meant to be efficient? That is an important question because not everything we do fits the mechanical, business definition of efficiency. Take writing this: it is far from efficient to compose this writing. It certainly does not often lend itself to a time-schedule. And, I will add that the criteria of efficiency has no place for task-fulfillment personally unless of course one of your obsessions is be efficient in all things. Which reminds me of a poem I used to teach in high school English called, "Mr. Artesian's Conscientiousness" by Ogden Nash.
In this poem, an office worker, Mr. Artesian is so obsessed with time that his sole objective becomes "saving oodles of time" which is a hallmark of the efficiency obsession. He then takes on a program to reduce the time he spends engaged in daily activities like sleeping, eating, shaving, etc., until the end result he does not like the time he has to waste traveling in an elevator, so he jumps out his fiftieth floor window to save time. No doubt there are truly ridiculous things sometimes undertaken for the sake of efficiency, so certainly outsourcing a task to AI could be one of those. This means thinking critically for yourself about just what can be outsourced to this new-fangled technology. In addition, there just might be some personally fulfilling reasons to not outsource.
Ultimately, I am being cynical here, this uncritical hype about outsourcing our work and lives to technology just might be another way for Silicon Valley tech companies to get even more of our personal data for economic exploitation.
The AI companies and evangelists certainly have an interest as well in getting us to think we hate our work, after all, if they can get us to see our work or parts of it as undesirable, they stand a better chance to make bundles. They want us, you and me, to be AI users, consumers.
In the end, it is OK to be sober, slow-moving, and not in a hurry in your decisions about whether or not you will use AI to outsource your work. It is an old marketing tactic to get your customer to think you have to buy their product now.
