[rarestia]

It’s going to cause a massive unemployment surge very soon. I would argue it’s already happening. I work for a big tech company. We are being made redundant. I’m fine with progress, but this is going to singularly change what it means to “work in IT.”

[Right_Wing_Madman]

It’s going to cause a massive unemployment surge very soon.

Humans will most likely have to get used to physical labor again. AI is already cheaper and more reliable than humans in many areas (say goodbye to accountants), but humans, in many types of labor, are more efficient than physical robots or assembly lines. It's cheaper for a human to make a pizza than a robot at your local Pizza Hut.

[RoosterRedux]

AI will clearly reduce some jobs. It will make programmers, engineers, accountants, lawyers, professors, etc., much more productive and this alone will reduce the need for some professionals.

As an aside, keep in mind that the reason the auto industry took off in this country was that Ford made a vehicle that his own employees could afford. The magic of what Ford did was that he didn't just create a product, he simultaneously created a product and the consumer demand for that product. That was the "real" economic magic.

If AI makes products that no one can afford, it will be useless.

That said, perhaps there will come a day when robots become end users (i.e., consumers) and human consumption will no longer drive the economy. But in the mean time, here we are.;-)