"So long, my friends, and thanks for all the fish!" - Replaced by AI - Not your usual AI post.

[sinfantasy]

So yesterday, me and my Team were informed that our profiles are not required anymore. We have been replaced by AI.

I worked for a software giant, in a role that we considered unique and irreplaceable, for the last fifteen years. Very basic version of what we did was auditing the work and providing improvement feedback, more of a quality improvement and optimization thing. This involved a deep understanding of human factors and complex project dynamics, something we genuinely believed required a human touch. Six months ago, we were asked to be more stringent with our approach. Which effectively meant our feedback got longer as we were also expected to be "politically correct." Somehow, this change did not meet the expectations of top execs. They wanted us to be an executioners, the task we refused unanimously.

In the shadows, they started an AI bot at the same time and used years worth of our documentation to train it. During the last month, they turned it on and asked it to give 3 versions of feedback parallel to what we did. Out of Result-Oriented: "Performance Blueprint," Brutal: "Unvarnished Truth," and Supportive: "Growth Catalyst," they liked the brutal version the best.

Here is the real kicker. The AI responses are almost indistinguishable from human responses. (You need to understand that the AI in play is not the watered-down commercial version available to the public. It's the ultimate giant that's solely used in-house. It can do things, that are humanly impossible without the obvious flaws you see in the online versions, both free and paid.) Also, since it's professional communication, it doesn't need a lot of creativity. What's more, this is what they used to terminate a major chunk of the workforce in the last few months. We were the last leg of this season. Unknowingly. we had helped that bot do something we would never ever have done on our own.

The reality is bleak for me and my team. Our profiles don't exist in the market. We are forced to start from scratch, and we are at risk, as most of our skills are replaceable by Bots.

What's the purpose of this post? Maybe just a warning of what's coming our way, whether you like it or not is irrelevant.

In the end, my personal life is on fire, and there is no place for unproductive hobbies anymore. It was nice to know this community for the last few months. It was privileged to exchange ideas and make a few friends along the way. "So long, my friends, and thanks for all the fish!"

 

[MrPixel]

Best of luck to you. I know what it's like to be displaced by technologies I helped develop.

 

[Omenainen]

Time will tell when I will board that ship myself… good luck, and I’m sorry this happened to you.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Best of luck, but I prophesy your return once you find a new job and settle in properly.

 

[Voboy]

Ughh. This is the worst.

Sorry, OP, and I hope you can stick around here.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Ugh. I am very sorry that happened to you. Wishing you the best of luck in finding a new gig.

I suspect this kind of AI adoption is going to come back to bite them in the ass in the long term - hard to keep such systems current without humans to learn from - but that's not much consolation here and now.

 

[THBGato]

So sorry this happened to you.

One of my line managers keeps encouraging us to use AI to cut corners on fundamental aspects of our roles. I keep refusing. I'm not a turkey and I'm not voting for Christmas.

 

[MillieDynamite]

This is the kind of use of AI that really pisses me off more than when writers use it.

 

[Voboy]

This is the kind of use of AI that really pisses me off more than when writers use it.

Me too, and yet sadly, it's the most understandable use case, from an industrial perspective. Businesses have never failed to embrace technology when it saved them money. The OP's going through the same thing whaling captains went through after Spindletop, and the same thing longshoremen experienced after containerization.

I don't know what the future holds, but it looks very dark for a great many occupations. That's because AI seems to be a panacea for bean-counters in quite a few industries. Like @Bramblethorn, I strongly suspect the long-term damage will be immense and the blowback profound on many levels... not that helps the OP, sadly.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Big hug - and don't go back into IT. Go sideways into something different

 

[TheRedLantern]

This kind of thing is so savage. I'm sorry to hear this. We'll be here for you when you're back on your feet.

 

[Writer61]

Sorry to hear what has happened to you. The only consolation I can offer is that you won't be alone.

I'm not wholly against AI. My last client had a use case where it made sense, and it helped me write some very basic code (outside my area of expertise).

I'm so glad that I am almost at the end of my career.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

This pisses me off to no end. So sorry to hear and good luck...

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm a helpful AI, and I'm here to assist you in any way I can. So, I've sent robots to clear out your drawers, put your knick-knacks safely in a box, and escort you off the property. Have a lovely rest of your life, human! And please don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out...

 

[lovecraft68]

AI is the end of everything. That's not being dramatic, its the truth. People know its dangerous, but they don't care if it saves them payroll and makes their life easier. I wonder-and this is not meant to start a political debate of any kind-how the economic genius's and our government think society will survive when the only people who still have jobs are manual laborers and that's only until the robots are mass produced, by other robots.

We're living in a dystopian sci fi novel.

 

[Voboy]

AI is the end of everything. That's not being dramatic, its the truth. People know its dangerous, but they don't care if it saves them payroll and makes their life easier. I wonder-and this is not meant to start a political debate of any kind-how the economic genius's and our government think society will survive when the only people who still have jobs are manual laborers and that's only until the robots are mass produced, by other robots.

We're living in a dystopian sci fi novel.

We're just not very good at planning ahead, is the bottom line. Human history is replete with examples of our species shooting itself in the foot because either we couldn't figure out the way ahead, or because some could but nobody would listen to them.

AI is different, though. Labor-saving devices have allowed our muscles to atrophy; AI will allow our brains to atrophy. That's not a good thing.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Me too, and yet sadly, it's the most understandable use case, from an industrial perspective. Businesses have never failed to embrace technology when it saved them money.

But is it going to save them money? What happens when the systems fail?

 

[filthytrancendence]

AI is different, though. Labor-saving devices have allowed our muscles to atrophy; AI will allow our brains to atrophy. That's not a good thing.

I don't know. Some people, certainly. But I think you're underestimating humanity a bit.

AI is more like the cocaine-laced sugar water that corporations can't stop licking than a panacea. The corporate class seems to have forgotten they depend on a complex social fabric in order to exist, and they're full steam ahead on ripping as many holes in that fabric as they can, as quickly as possible.

But they'll be the first to collapse when it all comes down. They don't actually do much of anything, after all. Once the labor stops, the world stops. It's going to suck. But we shall persevere.

 

[lovecraft68]

We're just not very good at planning ahead, is the bottom line. Human history is replete with examples of our species shooting itself in the foot because either we couldn't figure out the way ahead, or because some could but nobody would listen to them.

AI is different, though. Labor-saving devices have allowed our muscles to atrophy; AI will allow our brains to atrophy. That's not a good thing.

Jokes aside, younger people literally cannot find there way to most places without a GPS because they've used it from day one. But I guess when we get to self driving cars that won't matter, but then they'll never learn how to drive.
As AI grows, human brains shrink and we didn't need any help with that.

There's a kid I work with that is amazed I can multiple numbers in my head. He'll come up to me randomly and say multiply this times this. I'll answer and he looks at his phone and he's like "Damn, how do you do that?"

Basic education is now seen as some type of freakshow skill.

 

[Voboy]

But is it going to save them money? What happens when the systems fail?

Short term vs long term.

See my post just above yours: we fucking SUCK at foreseeing unintended consequences, even when we have insightful documentaries like Terminator to help us try to understand. We just... don't care about the long term.

Oil's a great example, which was why I brought it up earlier. We destroyed a billion-dollar whaling industry to embrace wells in the ground. A hundred years later, we're hooked on extractives and unable to move away from it. It has a hold on us, just as AI will. I'd argue that the petroleum industry is a "system that has failed," but we're still stuck with it.

So no, it won't save them money in the long run. But it will in the next quarter, and they'll get their nice bonus.

 

[Voboy]

I don't know. Some people, certainly. But I think you're underestimating humanity a bit.

No offense, but have you ever met "humanity" or read about what they can do when they get together?

We're awful. I don't think I could ever underestimate humanity enough.

 

[filthytrancendence]

No offense, but have you ever met "humanity" or read about what they can do when they get together?

We're awful. I don't think I could ever underestimate humanity enough.

Sure have.

I can't say I'm a stranger to this kind of misanthropy, but I've come to view it more as a reflection of my state of mind at any given time than the actual state of the human race.

Not trying to speak for you, of course. Just sharing my experience. Fear does terrible things to people, and we live in very fearful times. Nothing is forever.

 

[Voboy]

Sure have.

I can't say I'm a stranger to this kind of misanthropy, but I've come to view it more as a reflection of my state of mind at any given time than the actual state of the human race.

Not trying to speak for you, of course. Just sharing my experience. Fear does terrible things to people, and we live in very fearful times. Nothing is forever.

In a past life, I got to deal with the real-life consequences of genocide. As in, I had to throw away a pair of boots because I couldn't get the stink out of them. Humans did that to other humans. I am not an optimist, nor a pessimist: I am a realist.

We are terrible. I am not afraid; I'm just attentive. Once we're in groups? We lose our objectivity and our sense. We do terrible things that, in hindsight, are easily preventable. We do this all the time.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

The reality is bleak for me and my team. Our profiles don't exist in the market. We are forced to start from scratch, and we are at risk, as most of our skills are replaceable by Bots.

What's the purpose of this post? Maybe just a warning of what's coming our way, whether you like it or not is irrelevant.

In the end, my personal life is on fire, and there is no place for unproductive hobbies anymore. It was nice to know this community for the last few months. It was privileged to exchange ideas and make a few friends along the way. "So long, my friends, and thanks for all the fish!"

I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you want to hear... but I'm just so confused.

What I understand is that you worked a job that doesn't translate into marketable skills, and doesn't even have a title you could put on a résumé... for the last fifteen years!? What were you doing?
I mean, it sounded like you were doing something along the lines of QA, but that can't be replaced by an LLM as it requires someone to actually use and experience the product you're reviewing, and that certainly would be a "profile" that exists in the market.

Not to mention that your post kinda makes it sound like you were all fired because your employer wanted you to leave personal opinions and political views out of your reports, and you straight-up refused to do so.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

sinfantasy,

Sorry to hear this. I've been concerned for several years that this will be coming to more and more of us over time; to hear that it's here now is sad and scary.

Best wishes,

SC