One good reason to think that generative AI is about labor discipline: Larry Summers is on the OpenAI board ( https://fortune.com/2023/11/22/larry-summers-named-board-openai-sam-altman-return-ceo-ai/ ; note the threatening headline) . In his public speaking Larry Summers is the walking embodiment of austerity economics. He bangs the labor discipline drum at every opportunity. Just one well-known example from 2022: https://fortune.com/2022/06/21/larry-summers-calls-for-high-unemployment-to-curb-inflation/

5 years at 6% unemployment or 1 year at 10%: That’s what Larry Summers says we’ll need to defeat inflation

This is coded economist-speak for: we need to force a bunch of people who currently have jobs to be fired or laid off, and keep them in that state for 1-5 years, in order to achieve an economic goal. That is the essence of austerity economics and labor discipline.

Never mind that more honest economists have identified corporate markups as the primary driver of inflation, which immediately implies that forcing people out of work would worsen inflation, not reduce it. Summers knows this, or at least has access to this research. But he's an austerity ideologue.

So. Why is this person, who has no background in artificial intelligence, on the board of a company that claims to be building artificial general intelligence? In what universe does that make any sense? Well, it makes perfect sense in the universe where one of the goals for OpenAI's technology is enhanced labor discipline. Larry Summers has a track record and professional network for achieving exactly that; he'd know how to further that mission and knows the powerful people best-situated to help.

#AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LaborDiscipline #Capitalism #labor #austrity