“As an economist, I understand productivity; people lose jobs when technology changes. But the valuations of these AI companies are literally based on the assumption that hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs and employers will buy AI services instead of labour services.”
Dr Denniss said that while much of the attention was focused on the technology itself, he was more concerned about the broader economic consequences.
“What is the ATO’s plan? What are the state government plans?” he asked the committee.
“Again, all that money that Anthropic is betting on is coming from somewhere, and that’s going to have very real consequences for individuals, for communities, for the economy, for the way Commonwealth budgets are drawn up.”
Dr Denniss also challenged the argument that Australia risked being left behind unless it rapidly embraced AI, warning that national security concerns should not be used to justify an unrestricted rollout.
There is a difference between having time to sit under the bridge on your moldy mattress hugging your emaciated children and contemplating where you can steal their next meal and chilling in your air conditioned home, playing nintendo and eating pizza. The billionaires do not want to pay taxes. They do not want to employ you. They wont be happy until you pay for water and air. That is obviously not sustainable but they are insane at this point.
A balance between work and play is a rational bargain for the majority who didn’t get a bootstrap from inherited wealth and can’t live on investment income. With productivity improvements we should reduce the 40 hr week for sure and mandate longer paid holidays. Mass unemployment is not leisure unless you have some financial security. Admittedly living to work and being on call 24x7 or having to work two jobs to survive is wrong as well.