Jean, zero of this is responding to the article I linked which I imagine you didn't read. Yes, my summary was exaggerated and simplistic because I was just trying to make the point in a direction and emphasize the linked article. Read the article. The whole framing if "reverse centaur" acknowledges the normal "centaur" situation. Workers forever have used technology to improve productivity indeed, and AI can indeed be used that way and is. Yes yes yes. And that was true for the Luddites too. But that is not why it is being pushed as hard in many places. Just read the article, I don't need to waste time repeating all the points here. I'm happy to have a *productive* discussion about the ideas when you just read the link so we can be not just talking past each other. Your reply here is like replying to what you imagine the article to have said based on some prejudice you have after reading my grossly short summary points about it. Again: [1]https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-cen taurs
On 7/16/25 3:30, Jean Louis wrote: * Aaron Wolf [2]<[email protected]> [2025-07-14 22:52]: The purpose of AI in most of this context is **not** about improving productivity!! Thanks for your opinion, though it sounds to me like saying sky is not blue, and we do not breath air. The reason why I have set up my computer to have the GPU is to improve the productivity. It's about taking away tech-worker labor power. Cory Doctorow explains it all very clearly: [1][3]https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-cen taurs Sure! Nothing wrong with minimizing expenses. Educated man will know how to make work smarter, the other one must become smarter. Increasing productivity and efficiency means less labor power. Good thing. Would you like paying a construction company if you could simply rent a machine to print your house for you? You could even interactively generate final design without any employer. There will be a day when AI is actually productively helpful, but that's not today for most things. Well maybe not for you, I respect the opinion, though many of people I know using Large Language Models (LLM) have got tremendous assistance, that they couldn't complete themselves otherwise. It would need too large number of people, and for individual on university, it wouldn't be even possible making those projects. What you call "AI" is just new technology powered with knowledge that gives us good outcomes, it is new computing age, and not "intelligent" by any means. It is just computer and software. So let's not give it too much of the importance. Computers were since their inception "productively helpful" as that was the reason to create them in the first place. New technologies help with many tasks, with some they can't, but we can't be so biased to say they are not helpful, when it is clear they are helpful on many examples. Just watch robots who learn what is to be done in a minute on online videos. Today, it is a cudgel for bosses to use to take away power from workers, even if the results for productivity are worse. Workers provide service and get paid for it. Unless they are partners in business, they weren't meant to have powers in that business. Business is normally family oriented. A worker is not member of the family and usually doesn't have decision powers. He works, and provides the needed service. Families are foundation of our civilization. Each family has power to decide how to do their business, and they think for themselves mostly, and by priority. Those families who can think on society and groups, they do. Jean Louis References 1. https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-cen
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