The Links Lounge (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION/LIV ***)

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, bscinstnct said:

You go in, take your stuff, and just walk out the door!

 

Oh hell, I already do that and I haven't been caught yet.

[TiScape]

44 minutes ago, braincramp52 said:

What happens to the common working man when AI replaces half the workforce?

 Here in the Bay Area like 1 in 3 ppl you meet are in the tech industry. A lot doing the 3 highlighted jobs below. These are all jobs that start at, or close to six figures. Companies are gonna save a boat load of money… What will they do??? We know they won’t become checkers at stores! Haha. Hopefully they won’t become homeless, because I don’t think there’s any more room for tents ⛺️ and encampments in the big cities 😬

Edited May 4, 2023 by TiScape

[chisag]

17 minutes ago, braincramp52 said:

Just think though, if AI replaced just 30% of retail checkout people in the U.S alone how many families would be homeless? And I've seen enough crap in my 71 years to know that something meant to do good normally turns into a !#$% show. 😄

 

 

... Tough for us Boomers because we grew up in an ea when the middle class thrived. "Work" was something that built a product or provided a service and most importantly gave people the opportunity to make a decent living. CEO to employee ratio was 20 to 1 with few board members and stock options. While it was about making a profit, providing good jobs came first. The 80's changed all that and now the CEO to employee ratio is 368 to 1. Making money is much more important than providing jobs and the disparity between the rich and the poor has grown exponentially. Every great society has crumbled when the disparity becomes too great and right now the gap is wider than anytime in history. We are well on our way to becoming 3rd world country or a Revolution is on the horizon. The rich never see it coming ...

From the Economic Policy Institute:

Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality that we could safely do away with. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay and because so much of their pay (more than 80%) is stock-related, not because they are increasing their productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. This escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1.0% and top 0.1% incomes, leaving less of the fruits of economic growth for ordinary workers and widening the gap between very high earners and the bottom 90%. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or were taxed more).

[Double Mocha Man]

2 minutes ago, ChipStrokes said:

id have no problem checking in via a kiosk or an app for my round of golf. i already do it at the doctor. 

 

and like i said, not all jobs are in danger of being replaced. 

 

ai won’t replace teaching pros.  it won’t replace LP running around his club making everyone feel like a million bucks. it won’t replace your mechanic or your landscaper. 

 

who knew everyone was so emotionally attached to their stop n shop cashier?

😄 I support businesses that value people over machines. And I don't mind paying extra for it. It's a business model that still works.

[ChipStrokes]

Just now, Double Mocha Man said:

😄 I support businesses that value people over machines. And I don't mind paying extra for it. It's a business model that still works.

i don’t necessarily disagree with you, i’m just saying your choices for doing so will become fewer and further between in the near future. 

[Double Mocha Man]

Just now, ChipStrokes said:

i don’t necessarily disagree with you, i’m just saying your choices for doing so will become fewer and further between in the near future. 

 

I'm moving to a small island with a coconut palm tree and a golf course...

[bscinstnct]

24 minutes ago, ChipStrokes said:

enjoy it while you can. 

 

and the bottom line for every corporation and business is, quite literally, money. 

 

Eventually, Apple, Walmart, Law Firms, Health Care, will be making 10x the money but be able to get rid of 3/4 of their employees.

 

At that point there will be great wealth redistribution of their profits and people won’t have to work. 
 

I’ve read this in sci fi novels just never thought it would come to pass so rapidly. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by bscinstnct

[ChipStrokes]

3 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I'm moving to a small island with a coconut palm tree and a golf course...

haha love that idea.  it’s gonna suck when your ball finds the lone tree on the island. 

[TiScape]

1 hour ago, Soloman1 said:

AI will, of course, be used in nefarious ways by people, businesses and governments.

 

Can you think of any technology that hasn’t been?

 

Science fiction eventually becomes non-fiction..

 

55 years ago, from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

 

 

 

Absolutely. I took a movie/film class as an elective in HS. We had a Hollywood screenwriter come in as a guest speaker. I remember him mentioning how accurate Hollywood is/can be at predicting the future… In Minority Report there is a scene where the lead receives personalized targeted marketing as he walks through a mall. I remember thinking, ‘that’s def gonna happen’… Now we experience that every day while on our devices. There are many other examples, but that one sticks out to me at the moment. 
It’s looking more and more like Skynet is a real possibility 🙀

Edited May 4, 2023 by TiScape

[chisag]

2 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Are you in the most recent one I have seen with the actor playing tennis and then saying he really could not play tennis then goes on to talk about Humana getting him to play the harmonica to help his lung function. Then he jumps on a dresser Harley and says he could not really ride that thing either. I was wondering if that was you?

 

 

... You're killing me Stu. Do I look like that guy? 😎

 

[Soloman1]

I know y’all get sick of my barking on and on, but many Japanese businesses have a different attitude.

 

Stockholders have limited power. Large companies can always get financing, so many stocks are cross holdings between vendors and customers. They’re all motivated to make the businesses work.

 

A large company doesn’t need to horde cash and doesn’t pay out exorbitant bonuses to top executives. A company can make break even EBT and still be a considered a win, since it opens new locations, employs people who support the economy and contributes to society.

 

The most distrusted people are smooth talkers. There’s no need for  short-term earnings calls.

 

I know that seems bizarre to many, but the stock market isn’t a game of nanosecond trades, it’s still an investment platform.

 

There’s a myth that other countries took jobs away from the US. They didn’t make products on spec and drop them at the docks, hoping people would buy them.

 

Overseas companies were contacted and contracted to manufacture by US companies to reduce costs, while keeping the same pricing, and they willingly sacrificed manufacturing jobs.

 

Retail pricing used to be about 7 times cost. That $140 sweater made in the US was $20. Hey, we can get something that looks close to it for $5 landed.

 

Theres an old joke in Asia about teams from companies in Asia and Europe going to factories to check product. They study the supply chain, invest in better materials or equipment, inspect the products with magnifying glasses and check packaging.

 

Someone from an American company shows up and the company presents samples or production run goods. He waves them off and says they don’t care about that, let’s get this price down.

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Soloman1

[bscinstnct]

The first thing AI do is replace Yankees front office! 😡 

 

 

[braincramp52]

1 hour ago, ChipStrokes said:

enjoy it while you can. 

 

and the bottom line for every corporation and business is, quite literally, money. 

 

it’s why we went from 10 aisles of cashiers to 2-3 with a self checkout area. it’s why customer service was outsourced, and then automated. it’s why you get 8” of leg room and no food on an airplane now. oh, and it’s $35 to bring a carry on. 

 

this has been coming for a long time. 

That doesn't really mean we have to accept it though. My wife and I just don't shop at places that don't have checkouts. I'm not doing their damn job for them. 

[Petethreeput]

Can’t like Chisag and Solomons posts more.  The rise of AI will further the concentration of wealth.  There’s a lot to both of their points.

[TiScape]

10 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

The first thing AI do is replace Yankees front office! 😡 

 

 

I said that yesterday!!! Or better yet, a monkey with some darts… 😆

[ChipStrokes]

Just now, braincramp52 said:

That doesn't really mean we have to accept it though. My wife and I just don't shop at places that don't have checkouts. I'm not doing their damn job for them. 

no one said you had to accept it. 

 

and if that’s the stand you feel like taking, then good on you for it. 

 

im not saying you can’t do that. just that those places will slowly (or not so slowly) go away.  they simply won’t be able to compete in another few years. 

 

i’m not anti-traditionalism. i own a brick and mortar company that was built (literally) ground up by people.

 

but i’m not going to turn my nose up at the future and what it can possibly do for me. i can run software now that does the job of three market researchers. all i have to do is input parameters and it gives me the data i need. it does it just as well or better than they do and without salary, benefits, sick days, personal drama, extra long lunches, christmas bonuses, etc etc. 

[Jim53]

3 hours ago, ChipStrokes said:

i choose to see all the positives of it. 

 

ai will replace tons of redundancies in the work force where people are both expensive and inefficient. 

 

im currently using it (chat gpt) to develop work flows and business models as i explore expanding my company. 

 

i’m also using it to learn how to code.  that’s something i would’ve had to enroll in a night class or online program to do before chat gpt

We are doomed

[Soloman1]

So where do all of these AI replaced laid-off office people go for work? McDonalds? Amazon distribution centers? Homeless encampments?

 

I had a dream about 30 years ago about a factory where robots were making robots… in the dark.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Soloman1

[ChipStrokes]

1 minute ago, Soloman1 said:

So where do all of these AI replaced laid-off office people go for work? McDonalds? Amazon distribution centers? Homeless encampments?

there are less jobs than ever at mcdonald’s, so probably not there. 

 

i don’t think chat gpt can fix my sink. maybe they should become plumbers

Edited May 4, 2023 by ChipStrokes

[Jim53]

Did you not pay attention, the machines do not need you 

[touch]

10 hours ago, NCLancer said:

I almost clicked on the confused emoji, but I didn't want to seem ignorant, so I pivoted to the like button.  But in truth I am not versed in this computer stuff.  As a matter of fact I was wondering who this "AL" guy was y'all were talking about then I noticed it was A  I  not A  L.

 

 

  Good stuff NCL.  😅

 

No it wasn't Big Gay Al from South Park they were talking about. 

 

[ChipStrokes]

6 minutes ago, Jim53 said:

Did you not pay attention, the machines do not need you 

i’m assuming you’re talking to me

 

pay attention to what? 

 

have you used any ai software? it literally all needs you.

 

and if you don’t believe me, a software developer told us all as much just a few pages ago. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by ChipStrokes

[bscinstnct]

15 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

So where do all of these AI replaced laid-off office people go for work? McDonalds? Amazon distribution centers? Homeless encampments?

 

I had a dream about 30 years ago about a factory where robots were making robots… in the dark.

 

 

 

They won’t work. 
 

“A global economics research report from Goldman Sachs says that AI could automate 25% of the entire labor market but can automate 46% of tasks in administrative jobs, 44% of legal jobs, and 37% of architecture and engineering professions.”

 

 

Companies will generate much higher profits then be taxed up the wazoo and the money will be paid out to people for just being a nice guy. 
 

Everyone will just go around making Tik Tok videos and drinking Starbucks 🤣

Edited May 4, 2023 by bscinstnct

[NCLancer]

1 minute ago, touch said:

 

 

  Good stuff NCL.  😅

 

No it wasn't Big Gay Al from South Park they were talking about. 

 

How 'bout Weird Al??

 

[NJBigFish22]

All this talk of AI makes me want to play the lottery so .I can buy my own private island with private golf course, where I can invite a bunch of hot chicks, and let the rest of the world deal with all this crap, including approximately 50% of society. 

[TiScape]

43 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

The first thing AI do is replace Yankees front office! 😡 

 

 

Though I realize the overall records are different… The fact that the NY Yankees and the Oakland/Las Vegas A’s are BOTH in the cellar with a discrepancy in payroll of $220MM, isn’t really even funny 🫤

Edited May 4, 2023 by TiScape

[TiScape]

13 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

They won’t work. 
 

“A global economics research report from Goldman Sachs says that AI could automate 25% of the entire labor market but can automate 46% of tasks in administrative jobs, 44% of legal jobs, and 37% of architecture and engineering professions.”

 

 

Companies will generate much higher profits then be taxed up the wazoo and the money will be paid out to people for just being a nice guy. 
 

Everyone will just go around making Tik Tok videos and drinking Starbucks 🤣

Starbucks??? Ha! They be lucky to afford Sanka!!

[ChipStrokes]

1 minute ago, TiScape said:

Though I realize the overall records are different… The fact that the NY Yankees and the Oakland/Las Vegas A’s are BOTH in the cellar with a discrepancy in payroll of $220MM, isn’t really even funny 🫤

this yankees team is TOUGH to watch. 

 

we just got bader back, he played a great CF for two games and now i’m pretty sure he’s hurt again. took a knee/hip to the head trying to get to a ball in no man’s land

 

7 games against the rays over 10 days starting next week. 

 

season could be over before memorial day. 

[Soloman1]

1 hour ago, bscinstnct said:

 

We did some work with an autonomous checkout startup, big funding though. You go in, take your stuff, and just walk out the door! It’s live in a few big convenience stores. 

 

I remember seeing Amazon (?) convenience stores like that in downtown Chicago about 6 years ago using RFID. Stark places void of customers.

[touch]

  May 3 1952  was a day that a man from Des Moines, IA married a lady from Jackson, Michigan.

 

Mr. P served as an officer in the Air Force keeping planes in the sky in the South Pacific. Following his military service he complete his education and received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Mrs. P graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and was a talented piano player. Mr. P took a position as an engineer at GM. The couple got married in Christian church in Birmingham, Mi. 

 

 Everyone in Mrs. P's family eventually moved from Jackson to start careers in Detroit. Detroit back in my parents days was a boom town.  After graduating from U of M  Mrs. P took a position at one of Detroit's biggest Advertising and Marketing firms Campbell- Ewald. It was at a corporate mixer that she would meet her future husband, a fast tracking mechanical engineer at General Motors. 

 

All seemed rosy to start with the marriage but a situation occurred in a few years that caused great concern. When it was time to think of starting a family and friends and immediate family members were all having babies the P's were unable to do so. Year after year went by and my mother could not get pregnant. After almost a decade of disappointment Mrs. P finally put her foot down. She was not having a no kids existence. Through the church Mr. and Mrs. P learned that there was a young girl with an unwanted pregnancy that was looking to give her baby up for adoption to a qualified couple. That was the answer! Mr. and Mrs. P got to know absolutely nothing about the young woman carrying the baby, but all the State's official adoption forms were filled out. I was the baby that the college girl was giving birth to. At 10 days old a nurse delivered me to the front door of Mr. and Mrs. P.  Mrs. P's prayers were answered, finally she was a mother. Now it doesn't happen to a lot of couples with fertility issues but to a few it does happen. Mrs. P became pregnant with a child of her own a little over a year later. The boy that they had adopted now had a sister. Family life for Mr. and Mrs. P came about a decade later than the rest of the couples they knew, but they were grateful to finally have a chance to experience it.  Mr. and Mrs. P did a fine job raising their two children in Detroit and then St. Louis. My sister and I looked very much alike. Both of us had very blonde hair and blue eyes. No one ever suspected we were not blood related. I truly enjoyed having a little sister growing up. 

 

I had a wonderful upbringing and feel very fortunate I was placed in the home of Mr. and Mrs.P. 

 

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by touch