Good point. Many low-level jobs are already driven by tight bureaucratic rules enforced by based computer statistics and ubiquitous surveillance. Computers empowered the bureaucracy to such a point that it (figuratively spoken) took a life of its own.
So like I said, the computers are never going to control us
I don't buy that "never". It's not that black and white. Computers are making high-level decisions already, for example, what about automated trading algorithms? (especially those based on AI).
What if the shareholders that control public companies are, at least, heavily motivated in their decisions by computers?
Then it will be the computer allocating capital, and what choices do humans have? We just follow the way that our computer algorithms point to the profit.
Sure, strictly spoken there will still be humans in control. But in the worst case they will have at most a ceremonial function, to explain in human terms what the numbers say. If they decide to not follow the computer's "advice" they take a great risk.
That's one of the reasons many people feel that we live in a "machine state" (an automated bureaucracy with humans trained as mere robots) these days, or that is going to happen...
> I don't buy that "never". It's not that black and white.
We, the hackers, would (by definition) simply hack any computer trying to control us. Granted, it's not quite so black and white as that, but I think that the HN crowd would be able to do something if their workplace tried some of the computer monitoring crap that is currently foisted upon those at the bottom of the food chain.
That said, I wonder if middle management types won't start to vanish a bit more. I mean, they already let the computer make almost all of their decisions for them. At some point, they have pretty questionable utility. Sure, maybe they want a babysitter or two, but they hardly need a full management crew if the computer does all the work.
So like I said, the computers are never going to control us
I don't buy that "never". It's not that black and white. Computers are making high-level decisions already, for example, what about automated trading algorithms? (especially those based on AI).
What if the shareholders that control public companies are, at least, heavily motivated in their decisions by computers?
Then it will be the computer allocating capital, and what choices do humans have? We just follow the way that our computer algorithms point to the profit.
Sure, strictly spoken there will still be humans in control. But in the worst case they will have at most a ceremonial function, to explain in human terms what the numbers say. If they decide to not follow the computer's "advice" they take a great risk.
That's one of the reasons many people feel that we live in a "machine state" (an automated bureaucracy with humans trained as mere robots) these days, or that is going to happen...