The Limits of Digital Tailoring

5min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The hype and the narrative around robots taking all of our jobs, like my feeling is that those narratives actually distract us from what is actually happening with technology. How technology is used to change jobs in these ways that you're talking about. And I think that's an important part of the story that takes it a little bit beyond the digital tailors and account because when these techniques were invented in the 20th century of scientific management, they required a lot more managers who had to be there watching workers do their jobs.

Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss OpenAI’s claims that generative AI will take our jobs, how previous periods of automation hype haven’t resulted in mass job loss, and why we need to ensure it doesn’t further empower employers.

Aaron Benanav is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and the author of Automation and the Future of Work. Follow Aaron on Twitter at @abenanav.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Aaron wrote about why chatbots won’t take your job for the New Statesman.
Microsoft is rolling out generative AI in its enterprise software services and its Azure platform.
The Writers Guild is proposing contract language on AI in scriptwriting to ensure writers still get the credit.

Support the show