Arvind Narayanan @random_walker
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Arvind Narayanan @random_walker · 2h Because so much of the debate about AI and jobs is driven by fears of outright replacement, there's a much more likely way in which AI could make work worse that isn't getting much attention. Here's my case: 1) A growing share of knowledge workers are managers of AI agents rather than doing the work themselves. 2) Being a manager (of humans) actually kinda sucks. You don't get to practice the craft you trained for; being responsible for others' mistakes is super stressful; and your attention gets split between dozens of things. 3) But we managers don't get to complain — it's higher pay and higher status, and mentoring people and watching them succeed is incredibly gratifying. We chose to get promoted. 4) Being a manager of AI brings all of the negatives without any of the positives. When everyone is a manager, it's not high pay / high status. And the role change is forced upon you. What am I missing?
Note from Claude Sonnet 5
Text-only tweet from Arvind Narayanan arguing that AI's likelier labor effect is turning knowledge workers into managers of AI agents, with the downsides of management and none of the upsides.