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Comment by aespinoza | Hacker News Reader

Sadly, I couldn't read the article due to the paywall. But I agree with you. I don't think AI will replace knowledge workers. A couple of decades ago, people used to say that workers in factories would disappear as well. That never happened, at least not completely.

The costs are always a problem. If AI will ever really replace us, is still a mystery for the future. Because for it to work, it would have to be cost effective.

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> Sadly, I couldn't read the article due to the paywall.

Just open it in Incognito Mode. The Economist uses a simple, cookie-based porous paywall.

Thanks for the tip. It worked.

>>A couple of decades ago, people used to say that workers in factories would disappear as well. That never happened, at least not completely.

It hasn't happened completely, but that is only a matter of time. Manufacturing jobs have been declining at a sharp and steady rate in the US. One part of this may be due to outsourcing, but the other part is due to automation. When machines can do most of the labor, eventually you will only need a few high-level engineers to calibrate those machines.

Jobs in U.S. factories disappeared to Asia. Now that offshore manufacturing costs are rising, we can expect more companies to follow Foxconn's example, and invest heavily in machines.

If a job is offshored (as much knowledge work has been), it's a good bet that the next step will be to automate it.

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