The founder of Google’s DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman, let the cat out of the bag after a cushy business/pleasure trip to Davos spent liaising with fellow technocrats earlier this month, calling artificial intelligence a “fundamentally labor-replacing tool” — a euphemism for “human-replacing tool.”
Related: John Kerry Goes Full Davos Totalitarian: No Politician Can Reverse Climate Change Policy
Via Gizmodo (emphasis added):
We got another dose of that this week, when the founder of Google’s DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman, sat down for an interview with CNBC. Suleyman was in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum’s annual get-together, where AI was reportedly the most popular topic of conversation. During his interview, Suleyman was asked by news anchor Rebecca Quirk whether AI was “going to replace humans in the workplace in massive amounts.”
The tech CEO’s answer was this: “I think in the long term—over many decades—we have to think very hard about how we integrate these tools because, left completely to the market...these are fundamentally labor replacing tools.”
And there it is. Suleyman makes this sound like some foggy future hypothetical but it’s obvious that said “labor replacement” is already happening. The tech and media industries—which are uniquely exposed to the threat of AI-related job losses—saw huge layoffs last year, right as AI was “coming online.” In only the first few weeks of January, well-established companies like Google, Amazon, YouTube, Salesforce, and others have announced more aggressive layoffs* that have been explicitly linked to greater AI deployment.
*You might recall Joe Biden instructing out-of-work coal miners (due to Climate Change™ economic lockdowns) to learn to code as an alternative career. But, Mr. Puppet, what happens when AI takes over the entire tech sector as well?
Consider how little the technocrats already value human labor, prior to AI developing the capacity to do nearly all jobs faster and more efficiently than actual people.
During the lockdowns, at least 90% of work was deemed “non-essential” — as if the ability to make a living and eat food and live in a house is not an essential requirement for life.
Via New York Governor’s Office:
Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced he is signing the "New York State on PAUSE" executive order, a 10-point policy to assure uniform safety for everyone. It includes a new directive that all non-essential businesses statewide must close in-office personnel functions effective at 8PM on Sunday, March 22. Guidance on essential services under the executive order is as follows:
ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES OR ENTITIES, including any for profit or non-profit, regardless of the nature of the service, the function they perform, or its corporate or entity structure, are not subject to the in-person restriction.
(Essential Businesses must continue to comply with the guidance and directives for maintaining a clean and safe work environment issued by the Department of Health).
This guidance is issued by the New York State Department of Economic Development d/b/a Empire State Development and applies to each business location individually and is intended to assist businesses in determining whether they are an essential business and steps to request such designation. With respect to business or entities that operate or provide both essential and non-essential services, supplies or support, only those lines and/or business operations that are necessary to support the essential services, supplies, or support are exempt from the restrictions.
