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Comment by pdimitar | Hacker News Reader

I'd think that whoever perceives themselves as craftsmen should continue to, you know, craft things.

I personally am interested in a society where work is 100% optional. And I think AGI would enable that.

How do you view AGI in relation to economic effects on the world?

Work can't just be optional (as part of a trade off for food etc) because a lot of society in the US at least thinks it's a moral problem to just give people food, clothing, shelter even if we are better off avoiding starving people without homes (and it's a moral necessity but that doesn't seem to compel people). Look at the political situation here, people would be angry at the idea that you give 'other people' free stuff, somehow ignoring whether social security and medicare for senior citizens are free stuff. The fact that we don't trust "the other" means at least in the US giving people basics that we can provide almost for free it would be wrenching to society.

Well that's one of the ideas of AGI -- it will give you no choice! :D

People can keep doing petty political fights but they'll quiet down when the food and basic goods land in their house without them lifting a finger, I think. And it's going to be made better if it's done by robots and not other people.

I'm concerned about the effect on people who find meaning in the work they do. It's similar to how AlphaGo caused Lee Se-dol to retire. Once AI surpasses humans, a lot of work will seem meaningless, even if it previously gave meaning to people's lives.

Exactly this will give a second rise to hand-crafted goods. People will value handy work more than what a perfect robot can do. I know I do.

People will simply divide in two: those who want the automated labor goods, and those who prefer hand-crafted goods. The latter will also be willing to pay more.

So what? Either people will find meaning somewhere else, or they won't. How is that different than any historical economic revolution, or indeed just the way things are now? There are plenty of people who already don't find meaning in work.

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