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AI and the Paradox of Self-Replacing Workers | Madison Mohns | TED

As companies introduce AI into the workplace to increase productivity, an uncomfortable paradox is emerging: people are often responsible for training the very systems that might displace them. AI ethics advocate Madison Mohns presents three leadership principles to embrace technological progress while prioritizing your coworkers’ well-being — paving the way for a future where AI…

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As companies introduce AI into the workplace to increase productivity, an uncomfortable paradox is emerging: people are often responsible for training the very systems that might displace them. AI ethics advocate Madison Mohns presents three leadership principles to embrace technological progress while prioritizing your coworkers’ well-being — paving the way for a future where AI enhances human potential.

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69 Comments

69 Comments

  1. @BartT75

    March 22, 2024 at 4:43 pm

    Cool vid. How long before we get an Ai TedTalk?

  2. @piku5637

    March 22, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    We seriously need UBI and UBH.

  3. @mudgetheexpendable

    March 22, 2024 at 4:48 pm

    Tax the AI jbs at 500% of ten times the salaries of displaced workers. Then use the taxes for UBI.

  4. @jeffjones6951

    March 22, 2024 at 4:56 pm

    Similarly, Reuben Clamzo knowingly put himself out of work when he clampooned the last Giant Clam

  5. @piku5637

    March 22, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    We desperately need a worker/consumer co-op economy and strong unions.

  6. @forloveofthepage2361

    March 22, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    The only reason things got better after the industrial revolution is a lot of people dying to make sure we got rights.

  7. @bayleybailey34

    March 22, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    Wow what a title as people have jobs.
    Already replaced are grocery checker, guards, soon truckers. Speaking of trucks they think the orange coagula will help them?
    No his Stinky Musk X will have them moving freight because the trucks drive themselves. So truckers will be lucky to make $7.50 an hour lumping freight until AI takes that job too.
    And you wonder why people are living in the streets!

  8. @MsSilentlightning

    March 22, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    Climate Engineering: Tennessee Senate Is First To Pass Bill To Ban Geoengineering Search You Tube . TAKE BACK OUR SKIES!

  9. @summawub

    March 22, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    Sounds like ChatGPT wrote this speech.

  10. @vasfar9

    March 22, 2024 at 5:31 pm

    At the moment She says. Replace, that’s the big problem. That thing AI should ask; wait a second, why does this person ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET have no banking report. Let me DO something. oh! I see. Check your e-mail. NOW

  11. @garcipat

    March 22, 2024 at 5:32 pm

    This is not a paradox but a dilemma.

  12. @jordang437

    March 22, 2024 at 5:34 pm

    AI is for lazy people.

  13. @bullbae02

    March 22, 2024 at 5:53 pm

    Wishful thinking… AI is a tool and it makes work faster, like the car before made an entire industry of horse drawn/powered transportation obsolete in 2 decades… all that jobs lost, this time AI will make mundane task automated and hopefully workers in the future are more equipped to have skill sets that would still make them valuable in the job market of the future.

  14. @gregbors8364

    March 22, 2024 at 6:05 pm

    Look at “futurist” videos from the 1950’s, predicting an utopian future where everyone would have their needs taken care of with only a ten-hour workweek because of automation. Of course, that didn’t happen, but a lot of people ended up with zero-hour workweeks due to automation, with corresponding zero-dollar paychecks.

  15. @djdedan

    March 22, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    Funny how they never offer up AI replacing management. You know the one occupation that should literally be data driven. Anyway just a thought, have a nice day.

  16. @The_Deal

    March 22, 2024 at 6:18 pm

    Instant thumbs down. We cannot afford to lose more jobs. AI should only be used as a resource, not a mechanism to replace human workers.

    • @SurfbyShootin

      March 22, 2024 at 7:58 pm

      They don’t consider you human beings, they think of you in terms of human capital stock.

  17. @syandekyle

    March 22, 2024 at 6:31 pm

    As it looks, you either upgrade your skills or get replaced….its not getting any better

  18. @salasart

    March 22, 2024 at 6:50 pm

    Sadly I don’t think tech bros are thinking about what they SHOULD do, instead they are focused on how much they COULD or CAN do

  19. @chranchips

    March 22, 2024 at 7:08 pm

    Not this time.

  20. @paulhiggins5165

    March 22, 2024 at 7:27 pm

    Altman has already made it clear that AGI is the primary goal here- and there really is only one purpose for developing a non specialised general intelligence in machines, which is to replace human workers. Useful idiots will reassure you that this is not the case of course, and perhaps even believe it- they will tell you that AI is here to free us from drudgery so that we may spend our days creating Art, or Music or Writing….oh wait- the AI’s are doing that too. So what exactly is it that humans will be useful for if AGI is achieved?

  21. @Tsukikira51

    March 22, 2024 at 7:52 pm

    It’s a decent talk, but the real paradox is that modern US companies won’t care about training people to take on the new jobs, so what we will see is a mass layoffs, followed by years of companies’ complaining about labor shortages, while those with enough money take night classes to retrain for the new positions and those without money just starve and lose everything.

  22. @Earthgazer

    March 22, 2024 at 8:29 pm

    lmao leave it to execs to take until 2024 to realize they need to be paying attention to the AI industry

  23. @MarlosThiam

    March 22, 2024 at 9:15 pm

    the problem is that 80% of the people I know don’t study. So if they don’t study something new, their jobs will disapear and they won’t know how to work in the new ones.

  24. @HappySlappii

    March 22, 2024 at 9:19 pm

    Welcome to what the middle class has been fighting up against for the past century…

  25. @growingrobin

    March 22, 2024 at 10:14 pm

    Somehow this format feels more like a sales pitch than a TED talk…

  26. @onjofilms

    March 22, 2024 at 10:31 pm

    I wrote this comment with the help of AI. Soon, AI will be able to write comments without my help.

  27. @PeterMangin

    March 22, 2024 at 10:36 pm

    This was a great talk! There’s a lot more FUD in the comments than deserved, but I suppose that’s the point.

  28. @agathasteacoffeehaus1038

    March 22, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    Thanks for your opinion, I agreed and scrapped this video!

  29. @michaelnelson7240

    March 22, 2024 at 11:15 pm

    When they say don’t worry about it , you should be worried . They just want an easy transition you out replacement in less work for them if your doing your own job elimination

  30. @mr_mysterious_c11

    March 22, 2024 at 11:46 pm

    Is Ai Dangerous for us ?

  31. @janalgos

    March 23, 2024 at 12:30 am

    This talk could have been summarized in one sentence: “Let the AIs replace you, and help them replace others because you’ll surely find something else to do once you’re replaced”

    • @asmosisyup2557

      March 24, 2024 at 5:06 am

      That does seem to be what all the LLM people are saying, yet none of them have the vaguest of ideas as to what these miracle jobs might look like. “trust me bro” is the best they can come up with.

    • @Ryan-_-Kim

      March 25, 2024 at 3:02 am

      It sucks, but we have to admit at some point. The technology has been invented and no one can stop the evolution. Just like when the steam engine comes out to the world. The new technologies can make many people losing their jobs, but after, we will have a better life. At least for our next generation…

  32. @justinklenk

    March 23, 2024 at 12:43 am

    The positive/earnest effort she made here – just to fail to make anything more than a naive, non-novel point – really underscores the extent of the problem we’re facing here, as individuals and as a society: that there’s an unavoidable ecological collapse we’re facing, as long as (most) anyone/everyone who doesn’t _themselves_ become an effective leverager of AI, instead becomes a nonfunctioning liability, economically and socially.

    As a critical/creative thinker myself, I yet recognize and appreciate the need for, and the role of, ALL those who will never themselves be critical/creative thinkers. (…And why should a human HAVE to be, in the grand ecology of a society – ?)

    • @siddharthbhosale8979

      March 23, 2024 at 1:45 am

      How do you know that you are a critical thinker??? You sound more like a pessimist.

    • @justinklenk

      March 25, 2024 at 3:14 pm

      @@siddharthbhosale8979
      I think critically because I value the clear advantage and cognitive leverage of doing so – you should have gathered that from reading my comment, of course; but that’s on you to recognize or fail to recognize.

      And I’m far from a pessimist – which also would be clear, had you paid attention to the entirety of what I said. I’m a realist and an optimist; I see a _reason_ in _hope._ 👍

    • @siddharthbhosale8979

      March 26, 2024 at 2:42 am

      @@justinklenk ohh now I know it’s a real person I thought YouTube had some ai bots commenting. Hi Justin

  33. @ChrisBarringer

    March 23, 2024 at 12:44 am

    “Arxhitects of our own progress “

    and in turn architect’s of our own demise

  34. @moemoney7773

    March 23, 2024 at 1:18 am

    I don’t know maybe she need to change her tone because all i heard was “we can replace people more slowly so they don’t catch on to our plans😁

  35. @franciscollingwood7372

    March 23, 2024 at 2:01 am

    If only this TED talk had taken place back in the 2020s.
    Oh.🫢

  36. @mlm2770

    March 23, 2024 at 4:06 am

    Tell that to the 200k just axed employees of silicon valley

  37. @user-vm7kq7po8j

    March 23, 2024 at 4:24 am

    Tuli vain mieleen nwo eikö tästä pitäs olla yksi maa missä tätä ei tehdä ja katsottaisiin tilastollisesti onko väittämä väärä

  38. @gmailaaaa

    March 23, 2024 at 4:57 am

    Let AI end all the slavery, let them report to the bosses.

    When no human is employed, no one in unemployed, so finally we all will be free of any expectations and societal pressure. Finally, we will be able to do whatever we always wanted to do. Hail AI!

    • @RhinOzerOz69

      March 23, 2024 at 7:51 am

      Yes please!!

    • @asmosisyup2557

      March 24, 2024 at 5:14 am

      The people who control AI will enslave the rest of humanity. There are grim times ahead and the possibility of world wars/uprisings as the populace get desperate, making the current problems in the US look like a walk in the park.

  39. @Zero.freingetei

    March 23, 2024 at 5:18 am

    Ppga

  40. @LinhTruongNgoc-pf5wg

    March 23, 2024 at 6:21 am

    Thời đại phát triển việc học tiếng anh có chứng chỉ đã vô cùng quan trọng với mọi người.Chúc mọi người học Ielts thành công 🎉🎉

  41. @d4079925

    March 23, 2024 at 7:23 am

    AI can’t become clients, therefore it can’t set requirements for quality. As long as humans consume each other’s products, only humans can qualify a quality, therefore in the end, we’re going to be scrutinizing AI’s work with ever increasing scrutiny, even if the AI’s ability far exceeds our own, until AI start becoming clients of eachother – at which point, the income tax generated by AI could sustain Universal Basic Income, allowing most of us enough emotional fortitude to care for the planet, instead of surviving inflation.

    • @asmosisyup2557

      March 24, 2024 at 5:19 am

      Have you paid attention at all to how much tax billionaires typically pay? because the profits from AI will go into the hands of billionaires, and they will continue to do exactly what they do now.

  42. @Sunnucksboi

    March 23, 2024 at 7:53 am

    I know this is not going to be a popular take… but the reality is AI is coming for our jobs whether we like it or not and this does offer a a pragmatic approach to how we handle it. There’s more that needs to be done to safeguard jobs but this feels like a sensible first step

  43. @RainOfMe

    March 23, 2024 at 7:56 am

    This is such a fluff talk. Using ford as an example is the worst comparison.

    Manufacturing jobs alone have seen millions displaced with robotics being introduced.

    Realistically, what company is going to turn to their employees and offer to invest more money to “reskilling” or “upskilling” all their employees when their roles are now redundant.

    Imagine the conversation:
    Oh Hey bill. We really appreciate your 10 years of service and the decade put into honing your craft. We implemented a new “tool” that basically does most of your work, if not all of it… You’re in your mid 40s, family, mortgage, life, and other responsibilities, so we’ll need you to go back to school and learn about all this new tech… Also just FYI. There is an entire generation of new blood entering the workforce that have already studied for the “new roles” we now require who you will be competing with… So best of luck.

    I don’t buy this AI should replace jobs not people… To corporate and management, replacing jobs means replacing people.

  44. @mikebrough3434

    March 23, 2024 at 8:02 am

    Re-skilling might allow you to hang on to 25% of your current team but that’s an example of the law of diminishing returns. And what about the other 75%?

  45. @Zerobob26

    March 23, 2024 at 8:57 am

    AI and machines replacing workers is inevitable. What needs to change is the need for people to work to survive.

    We should work towards phasing out jobs and money, whilst phasing in automation of jobs. The only elegant solution is a UBI for every citizen, funded by a robot tax.

    • @asmosisyup2557

      March 24, 2024 at 5:17 am

      UBI wont work. People always desire more, to be better than others, to have power over others. Left unchecked you get people who will take over the world. Just look at the likes of Bezos.

  46. @rameshg2717

    March 23, 2024 at 10:43 am

    Unfortunately the easy availability of this tech is going to create new companies and the companies themselves may not survive. Google is struggling because of a relatively new company, open Ai. In future these Ai companies will become like Amazon… Only these Ai companies will be selling services as products. Those using it now are unknowingly helping these companies..

  47. @ummatalibek9996

    March 23, 2024 at 11:12 am

    Amingga qo’tag’im juda tez gapirar ekansan

  48. @Retly_Ai

    March 23, 2024 at 12:37 pm

    Spoken like a true socialist

  49. @vladokiller100

    March 23, 2024 at 3:16 pm

    Talk about a dystopian future.

  50. @emekaocp

    March 24, 2024 at 4:27 am

    Great content. Please post more…

  51. @asmosisyup2557

    March 24, 2024 at 4:49 am

    Companies usually take the route of reducing costs over finding ways to utilize what they have better, as it’s a simpler process. Why let people work less hours to do the same amount of work when you can force less employees to do even MORE work because they are under more threat of unemployment?

    It’s a downward spiral that corporations cannot resolve as they have no interest in resolving it, quite the opposite. The only way things will improve is if institutional changes force them to. Good luck with that as long as the Corporations pull the strings on governments. These companies will not invest a single cent in retraining/repurposing the people they discard and its getting really tiresome hearing these ivory tower people from silicon valley who are willfully ignorant of how the world works and how people (especially those in power) work.

  52. @L117music

    March 24, 2024 at 12:53 pm

    The main problem is that tech, AI and Robotics will kill the economy by making bussiness and the economy to become stagnant because the very few have a jobs and a large part of society will have no the money and no jobs to buy the products businesses produce and sell that will causing a major recession around the world. you can see this has already happened around the world where large companies that a towns depended on closed down leaving these town to become ghost towns because there was no money and no jobs for these towns to survive and thrive. this is what Ai will do to our world in the future killing business opportunities in the future unless you remove people from the population will this business idea and model actually work. due to the fact Ai and Robotics has the potential of replacing a large section of the work force and reducing these jobs is economic suicide for businesses.

  53. @Q_Branch

    March 24, 2024 at 5:06 pm

    Ai is a black box, car production lines aren’t.

  54. @MelissaAtwell

    March 25, 2024 at 12:41 am

    This camera work and lighting is really distracting 😒 It hurts the impact of the subject matter… (unless the cameras were run by an A.I. 😏)

  55. @user-ne9de6pp7u

    March 25, 2024 at 12:48 pm

    The words this talker used in this TED talk are quite hard for me to understand, I even don’t know what she is talking about. Just can not get her thought.

  56. @thiagoaguilar5781

    March 25, 2024 at 1:55 pm

    why is she in a stadium

  57. @kyokoyumi

    March 26, 2024 at 1:30 am

    Just so everyone knows, she’s “an AI Product Manager at Indeed, where I have the privilege of leading our AI Strategy for the Taxonomy and Ontology team.” (from her linkedin profile)
    She deals in AI ethics. So she’s 100% the person we want to pay attention to and talk about this subject. She’ll probably be one of the people helping us keep our jobs when AI goes after them lol

  58. @CowboyOdie

    March 26, 2024 at 11:37 am

    I don’t know about AI taking jobs, but a 60-second AI summary of this video would be nice.

  59. @Redbunnyjvb

    March 26, 2024 at 3:33 pm

    The problem is there is alot of bullshit jobs that AI can replace.

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