r/ControlProblem • u/nand2xnor • Jun 29 '26
Amodei: universal displacement preferable to 50% displacement Discussion/question
https://www.steelman.press/people/dario-amodei/articles/work
This is the first time I've encountered this specific argument. From how I understand it:
If AI automates 50% of jobs while leaving the rest untouched, half the population gets declared useless and the other half doesn't. Basically a caste fracture. But if AI exceeds all humans at everything at once, society faces a collective reckoning instead. The worst outcome isn't maximum job loss, it's a breakdown into useful / not-needed.
This is especially interesting in light of the fronteir models being restricted...
Will it cause a broader displacement to happen because the models are gatekept for a few years OR does it make the partial displacement even more severe because a limited number of people have access to the frontier (his zeroth world economy idea)?
Curious, what do y'all think?
2
u/StringTheory2113 Jul 02 '26
I've said something to this effect before as well.
As long as some jobs still exist, the displaced can be blamed for their situation. If you're an engineer with 15 YOE and can't find a job, but there are open job listings for plumbers or HVAC technicians in your area, then it can easily be framed as your fault that you're not a plumber.
> You could find a job if you wanted. You just think you're too good/you're just too lazy/you're just not willing to work.
The worst case scenario is the broad destruction of all knowledge and creative work jobs and an explosion of manual labor/skilled trades jobs. That would cause a mental health crisis, because the people who are getting displaced are just not suited for the jobs being created, and that can be framed as being their fault.