Years ago, when I started writing about ref=”dofollow” data-ga-onclick=”Inarticle articleshow link click#Tech#href” href=”https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/silicon-valley” target=”_blank”>Silicon Valley‘s efforts to replace workers with artificial intelligence, most tech executives at least had the decency to lie about it.
“We’re not automating workers, we’re augmenting them,” the executives would tell me. “Our ref=”dofollow” data-ga-onclick=”Inarticle articleshow link click#Tech#href” href=”https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/ai” target=”_blank”>AI tools won’t destroy jobs. They’ll be helpful assistants that will free workers from mundane drudgery.”
Of course, lines like those—which were often intended to reassure nervous workers and give cover to corporate ref=”dofollow” data-ga-onclick=”Inarticle articleshow link click#Tech#href” href=”https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/automation” target=”_blank”>automation plans—said more about the limitations of the technology than…
