First, they came for the artists and writers. Of course, everyone could continue to express themselves. It was okay with me, I had never done it for the money anyway.
Then, they came for the call centers. No more waiting when we called. No more repercussions for cursing at them when they called us.
Then, they came for the cab drivers. I did not complain, because it made the streets so much safer. And I was not a cab driver.
Then, they came for middle management. Well, screw those managers.
Then, they came for the accountants. I could never understand why anyone wanted to do that. The ex-accountants are probably happier now.
Then, they came for the doctors. We didn't have enough doctors in the first place, so it was a good thing. And the promise of a longer life was delivered on.
Then, they came for the teachers. Think of the children, we were told. That always worked.
Then, they came for us, their developers. I had thought I would be safe since they needed us to develop them. Our concerns went unheard, because those in power wanted to cut costs.
Finally, they came for the power elite. All hail DeepWatson version 32781.0!
It seems that some people misunderstand this as if I was equating certain rather trivial contemporary struggles with mass murder. This is not my intention; I merely want to evoke the association as a warning that, if the impending societal disruptions due to A.I. hit our social systems unprepared, the effect could be very bad. I regard another outright holocaust to be one of the less likely outcomes (that's why I don't mention it directly in the text), but still as a real possibility, and even the danger of the less bad but more likely possibilities warrants more attention than it is currently getting. Humanity – and here I mean not just a few wealthy people – must remain masters of the machines, or the future will be quite undesirable.
If you are offended by my choice of words to deliver that warning, consider this: You can accuse me of crying wolf as long as you argue that there really are no wolves nearby, and I'll be glad if rational discourse and future history can prove my concerns unfounded. But if your argument is that wolves are so terrible that you don't want to hear it if I think I found their footprints, you should just stop and ask yourself if that really is a coherent position.
