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Comment by hiAndrewQuinn | Hacker News Reader

AI directly threatens the livelihoods of most white collar workers, most of us here included. Of course they'll use any means available to cobble together a cartel to maintain the human monopoly on production of intellectual and creative works. Now is the best time to do it, thanks to the incredible flashiness and popular awareness of these new bits of software.

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That criticism applies to copyright generally, and I agree partly.

However, what’s happening here is different. What people are reacting against is that (often dirt poor) artists unwillingly become part of a commercial supply chain, while corporations protect their IP the usual way, backed by the full force of the government even on foreign land.

If copyright is abolished entirely, at least there’s some form of level playing field. But this becomes yet another step towards a more exploitative economic environment.

>AI directly threatens the livelihoods of most white collar workers, most of us here included.

This reads like an argument from the English Luddites[0]

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite#Birth_of_the_movement

Sure, but what happened to the luddites?

>Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed with legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites.

I meant what happened to them after the jobs were replaced with technology?

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