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From: Bjoern Guenzel <b.guenzel@ucl.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: The point of A.I.. and who will benefit?
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Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 15:39:11 GMT
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Greg Miller wrote:
> 
> >:    Given the business downsizing trends of the 1990's in the US, the
> >: most worrisome issues are the socio-economic implications of increased
> >: use of dumb and smart machines.  When the coal miner is replaced by a
> >: robot, will the former coal miner still be able to earn a living, or
> >: will all the financial benefits of advanced automation go to the
> >: stockholders, leaving large segments of the population unemployed and
> >: in poverty?  Wall Street has shown that it cannot be trusted to apply
> >: advanced technology in a responsible way.  The big question is whether,
> >: for the average person, the advent of real AI will mean winning the
> >: lottery or losing your job.

The coal miner could be trained to program robots, which would be a far
more healthy occupation, anyway. I don't know if people are born being
keen on becoming coal miners...

There was a time in human history where there were no coal miner jobs
before, and man has survived it.

Bjoern Guenzel

