I think that the most misunderstood thing about automation is that it removes work. It does not. All it does is shift the work around – often to a place that is less visible. Sometimes it lets you rearrange the work so that it is more efficient or can be applied at a greater scale – but it never completely eliminates it. It lets a single man wield the power of a hundred people who labored to make his tool, but the work still needs to be done by someone, before it can be stored and unleashed.
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ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ (deshipu@fosstodon.org)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 12:21:21 UTC ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ -
Fernando Mumbach (fermuch@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 12:21:14 UTC Fernando Mumbach @deshipu in long term view, it is equal. It stabilizes. The displaced people find a new way to work.
But in short terms it does make some people lose their work. Think of those 50 years old who don't want to learn new things. If a new automated process replaces them, they most likely won't adapt. They'll try to keep working on the same thing, until they retire.
New generations will adapt to the new opportunities.
I'm all for automation, but let's not forget about how people feel!
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Fernando Mumbach (fermuch@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 13:25:19 UTC Fernando Mumbach @deshipu ah, it seems like I didn't get that! Then yeah, I agree. Automation enables us to do more with the time we have!
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ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ (deshipu@fosstodon.org)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 13:25:21 UTC ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ @fermuch I didn't mean "work" as in employment. I mean work as in effort.
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Fernando Mumbach (fermuch@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 13:34:54 UTC Fernando Mumbach the net amount of work done after automation might be the same, but it enables new possibilities. Most of the times, when automating, you can outsource maintaining the system running to specialists, who might solve issues faster than you might do by yourself.
The total work is the same, but you can focus on what you're good at instead of fixing every little thing to keep it running.
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ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ (deshipu@fosstodon.org)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Jul-2023 13:34:55 UTC ɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋ @fermuch My point is that it really doesn't, because you have to instead work on maintaining the automation, and you are also using the work of many people before you who created the tools and materials and designs needed for that automation. And you get to work extra hard whenever anything breaks or needs updating. So on average, you get pretty much the same amount of work, just different kinds and done by different people.
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