Skip to content
New technologies will replace manual labor, causing traditional industries to feel panic, tension, and resistance; this is history.
In 1705, Newcomen invented the steam engine for pumping water from mines. In 1765, Watt made significant improvements to the steam engine based on repairing Newcomen’s machine, modernizing it and greatly enhancing its efficiency. In 1776, a cotton spinning factory opened in Arkwright, where hydraulic spinning machines mechanized every step of the textile work process. By 1779, steam engines were widely used in British factories, during which the famous “Luddite Revolution” erupted, where cotton textile workers destroyed steam engines to protect the jobs and work of traditional artisans.
Three centuries ago, during the first industrial revolution in Britain, steam engines replaced manual laborers. Over the following century, machines, mechanics, and automation emerged. Three centuries later, AI, especially generative artificial intelligence represented by Open AI, will replace mental laborers.
The report “Observations on the Impact of GPT on the Workforce” points out that in the new wave of transformation brought by generative AI, professions that originally required higher education and extensive practical experience, such as lawyers, pharmacists, designers, and programmers, are easily influenced by large models. Therefore, during the development of AI large models, mental workers will be replaced, and knowledge-intensive professions are more susceptible to the impact of generative artificial intelligence.
However, replacement does not mean the end of humanity.
What AI can replace are the tedious, trivial tasks, and cumulative content that require a significant amount of time for mental workers. If every mental worker is liberated from trivial matters, they can spend more time on creative work. For example, lawyers need to organize a large number of case records, legal documents, and edit numerous legal letters and contracts, while AI can help lawyers quickly conduct information retrieval and support better case analysis.
What AI cannot replace is human critical and creative thinking, as AI itself is an evolution of logic and algorithms, not reasoning, judgment, and empathy. Mental workers can simplify complexity, liberating themselves from excessive text and documentation, and find more efficient or creative content production. AI can extract poems from Li Bai and Wang Wei, but it cannot replace each individual’s interpretation and understanding of life.
Technology will partially replace jobs, but it will also promote the advancement of human civilization.
Just like during the first industrial revolution, there was initially a large number of adult artisans losing their jobs, but in the later development of industries, more labor opportunities emerged. For instance, women could enter factories and collaborate with machines without expending excessive effort, only needing to complete one step in the assembly line work. Numerous professions such as secretaries, clerks, technicians, and maintenance workers, which did not belong to the original traditional manual laborers, also emerged during industrial development. In the century-long history of machine invention, to keep education in line with the development of social skills and technologies, courses in accounting, law, geography, electricity, and business emerged, providing more educational opportunities for the common people.
The development of AI will also, like the steam engine era, begin to replace some job roles, but the productivity driven by subsequent development will require more new job opportunities. Rather than being fearful like the Luddites who attempted to destroy machines to preserve their jobs, or being short-sighted like the business guilds resisting the establishment of machine factories during the Guangxu period, we should learn how to coexist with AI early, master the skills to use AI as a tool, and develop and enhance ourselves.
Images sourced from the internet, please delete if infringed.
References: In the Era of Large Models: ChatGPT Triggers a Wave of General Artificial Intelligence, China Translation Publishing House.
1. Telecom Fraud and Pig Butchering in Northern Myanmar: From Exploiting Human Weaknesses to Detailed Personal Information Collection.
2. TikTok “Refugees” Flooding to Xiaohongshu: The World Embraces China, An Irreversible Trend of Globalization.
3. Why Are Sales of Porsche Thriving, While Great Wall Sales Are Not?
I am Jie, a millennial content creator, analyzing social phenomena using sociology.
Thank you for reading and liking; support me in creating better content.
