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The irrelevance of AI -- robotic MicroserfsNow, I'm going to pull the rug out from under the discussion in the previous section, by pointing out that it doesn't matter how long any of this will take. Suppose we already have programs that write programs. Suppose all the people who work for Microsoft (including their Leader) are not people, they are robots. The coders, the project leaders, the architects, and the managers are programs, running in some kind of robotic hardware that looks human. They are self-replicating molecular systems with arms, hands, legs, eyes, ears, and brains -- their AI is fully equivalent to human intelligence, and a rather high level of intelligence at that. They are programmable and respond to human language. They make their own tools. Some can supervise others and participate in the design of their own tasks... The corporation is entirely automated, with all jobs done by robots or machines operated by robots. There is no need for human labor or attention anywhere in the Microsoft corporation. These robots are not abundant and disposable. They are rare and expensive. There are enormous costs involved in training them and providing an environment where they can work productively. If this little fantasy were true, how would that change my situation as a customer in a software store? Many of the items for sale were made by Microsoft. If they were made by robots instead of people, would I notice any difference? No. The difference between a company of people and a company of robots would be transparent to me as a customer buying their software. It wouldn't mean that products from Microsoft would be free. The software wouldn't be free if the Microserfs were robots, for the same reason it isn't free now. In other words, the existence of thousands of robots, with fully human capability, would not change my situation in any essential way. |