In reply to Britt Watwood.

“The doomsday scenario is not a manufacturing A.I. transforming the entire planet into paper clips, as one famous thought experiment has imagined. It’s A.I.-supercharged corporations destroying the environment and the working class in their pursuit of shareholder value.” ... “The fact that personal computers didn’t raise the median income is particularly relevant when thinking about the possible benefits of AI. It’s often suggested that researchers should focus on ways that A.I. can increase individual workers’ productivity rather than replace them; this is referred to as the augmentation path, as opposed to the automation path. That’s a worthy goal, but, by itself, it won’t improve people’s economic fortunes. The productivity software that ran on personal computers was a perfect example of augmentation rather than automation: word-processing programs replaced typewriters rather than typists, and spreadsheet programs replaced paper spreadsheets rather than accountants. But the increased personal productivity brought about by the personal computer wasn’t matched by an increased standard of living.”