“Past Automation Replaced Jobs. AI Will Replace Workers.” by James_Miller

There's LLM-written text here. Unknown Model writes:

Human workers are about to face a competitor unlike any technology that came before: AI systems that can be copied at near-zero cost, deployed instantly, and improved faster than workers can retrain. Economists have long answered automation fears by noting that machines destroy some jobs but create others through lower costs, higher output, and new industries. That pattern held because earlier machines replaced specific tasks while people kept the broader mental abilities needed for other work. AI is beginning to erode that refuge. When the same technology can do the mental work that once let workers move from obsolete jobs into new ones, the old economic escape route starts to close.

The Luddites were right to fear stocking frames because those machines destroyed skilled textile work. But a machine that made clothing cheaper did more than destroy one craft. Lower prices freed money for other purchases, and higher output created demand for mechanics, haulers, clerks, merchants, and other workers.

That escape route existed because human labor stayed scarce and broadly useful. Workers who left farms could move into mills, railroads, mines, construction, and factories. When manufacturing later needed fewer people [...]

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First published:
March 26th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JBrnxYGNisBxHjevE/past-automation-replaced-jobs-ai-will-replace-workers

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.