Written by Rei Llazani | 8 minute read
The idea that machines will replace humans is nothing new. A few months ago, I learned the story of the Luddites in 1811.
The Luddites were a group of textile workers in Great Britain who rebelled against the rise of “factorization” and “mechanization” (the use of machines to automate tasks that were traditionally handmade). Between 1811 and 1816, Luddites protested their perceived displacement by setting factories on fire, attacking individual homes to destroy frame-knitters, and breaking new machines.
That was over 200 years ago.
We know that the Luddites’ fears were indeed justified because, well, many of their jobs have now been replaced by the very machines they feared. Of course, there are still millions of people working in factories worldwide, with manufacturing still among a top industry.
In various contexts with varying degrees, machines have replaced applications of the “human hand” as it pertains to production. Nonetheless, the “human hand” continues to be superior in many applications; for example, robots in Amazon warehouses have a problem with “grasping” certain products that are calculated by the subconscious human brain in close to zero seconds. (Although I presume this challenge will be solved in less than 10 years).
Now there is a big, new machine in town.
Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in development for decades, it has been the most-talked about topic in the business world in the past few months.
It is a little bit different than what the Luddites experienced 200 years ago because AI does not function as a machine replacement for the human hand - but functions as a machine replacement for the human mind. This is an important nuance to consider.
There are two main categories of “work” that humans have at their disposal:
By and large, machines begin by replacing low-skilled human "hand" tasks. Physical machines have the capacity to function as manual labor. We see this occurring in self-serve kiosks at McDonald's restaurants.
The big question with the new digital machine of AI is how it will function in the marketplace today; and within this context, whether it has the capacity to replace certain human roles, and importantly, to which extent it has that capacity throughout a given period of time.
Following the same logic as its physical “hand” machine counterpart, the answer is: the “brain” machine will replace low-skilled mental, brain labor.
I presume this consequential logic is the elephant in the room at companies like Fiverr.
Fiverr, of course, derived its name from “$5”, and is known as a bottom-of-the-barrel platform to order digital services. These services, although usually lower skilled relative to what exists in the market today, are nonetheless powered by the brain.
The CEO of Fiverr, Micha Kaufman, rushed to take out a full, one-page ad in the New York Times to “sympathize” with AI when ChatGPT had been released from its long-held leash in December 2022.
Dear AI,
As an advocate for human talent, allow me to assure you that we come in peace.
You are a unique and powerful tool, capable of extraordinary feats.
However, after reviewing some of your work, I believe it could benefit from a human touch to avoid coming across as too, ahem…robotic.
I believe that's where our freelancers can help by giving you some personality, leading to better results. When we work together, wonderful things happen, as exemplified by this letter that you helped write. Thank you, by the way. Look at us, we're already finishing each other's sentences. Literally.
For these reasons and more, we at Fiver have decided to add AI categories to our catalog of services, including ChatGPT application developers. Mid-journey artists, AI chatbot developers, and more.
Don't worry, follow the humans’ lead, and you’ll do just fine.
I sincerely hope you receive this message, as, despite your impeccable reading skills, you still lack the ability to flip a page.
Here's to a successful partnership.
Yours truly,
Micha Kaufman
Founder & CEO
Fiverr.com
As an outsider, I can only speculate if Fiverr believes its platform will rise alongside AI, or if Kaufman's letter - which emanates a notion of raising the white flag of surrender - is actually panic veiled in a confident (and expensive) announcement to readers of the New York Times.
Great companies are built by great people, and although I have no connection or affiliation with Fiverr, I like to presume the smart folks at Fiverr will figure out their clear & present threat of AI. But of course, it goes without saying – great companies do fall and can be quickly replaced, sometimes seemingly overnight.
If we learn and understand the history and past, it helps us understand the future.
The beauty of progress in technology and machines is that it actually does not literally replace humans, but it has the effect to push humans to new heights.
Because of that belief, I like to use the word "displacement" instead of "replacement". Although displacement has a negative connotation too, it can have positive effects. The luxury industry, for instance, has produced a natural phenomena of lifting societies higher and pushing us to new heights. What used to be luxury 100 years ago is now commonplace and can be enjoyed by everyone. (Fun fact: ice cream was such a great delicacy, so much that King Charles allegedly swore his chef to secrecy on pain of death so that no other royal types could have the recipe).
If today's brain machine follows the same pattern as yesterday's hand machine, we can make the following predictions:
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