danah boyd discusses the potential impact of AI on the future of work and the difference between Camp Automation and Camp Augmentation — those who believe that most jobs will be automated away and those who see AI as an augmentation to our current way of working. Like boyd, I'm firmly in Camp Augmentation; I do not think graphic designers are "toast" as the top tweets on Twitter's For You page frequently proclaim.

How do we develop and maintain skills in a world where technology is increasingly advanced, particularly in the face of advanced AI technologies? (e.g. will my programming skills atrophy over time from using Copilot to write menial React code every day, even if it frees up more time for working on things that Copilot can't do?) What impact will technology have on professions that rely on hands-on experience?

[T]here are plenty of places where you are socialized into a profession through menial labor. Consider the legal profession. The work that young lawyers do is junk labor. It is dreadfully boring and doesn’t require a law degree. Moreover, a lot of it is automate-able in ways that would reduce the need for young lawyers. But what does it do to the legal field to not have that training? What do new training pipelines look like? We may be fine with deskilling junior lawyers now, but how do we generate future legal professionals who do the work that machines can’t do? [...]

Whether you are in Camp Augmentation or Camp Automation, it’s really important to look holistically about how skills and jobs fit into society. Even if you dream of automating away all of the jobs, consider what happens on the other side. How do you ensure a future with highly skilled people? This is a lesson that too many war-torn countries have learned the hard way. I’m not worried about the coming dawn of the Terminator, but I am worried that we will use AI to wage war on our own labor forces in pursuit of efficiency. As with all wars, it’s the unintended consequences that will matter most. Who is thinking about the ripple effects of those choices?

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