I have so many thoughts on this. This idea of AI taking over the roles of early-career workers I think will highlight and exacerbate existing institutional weaknesses like the post-doc system in academia. The amount of institutional knowledge that is lost in the churn and turnover when one inexpensive temporary worker is discarded for another inexpensive temporary worker is truly staggering. The system relies on post docs for a staggering amount of its publication results yet does very little to preserve the knowledge during turnover (I can see AI aiding in some of the documentation here, but only if it’s applied wisely).
The other thing I thought about when I read your Forbes interview is that I have always taken on a lot of other people’s cognitive debt and found it incredibly annoying. It made me want to try incorporating AI into my workflow to pay back some of what my poor overworked brain is owed. 🤣
I have so many thoughts on this. This idea of AI taking over the roles of early-career workers I think will highlight and exacerbate existing institutional weaknesses like the post-doc system in academia. The amount of institutional knowledge that is lost in the churn and turnover when one inexpensive temporary worker is discarded for another inexpensive temporary worker is truly staggering. The system relies on post docs for a staggering amount of its publication results yet does very little to preserve the knowledge during turnover (I can see AI aiding in some of the documentation here, but only if it’s applied wisely).
The other thing I thought about when I read your Forbes interview is that I have always taken on a lot of other people’s cognitive debt and found it incredibly annoying. It made me want to try incorporating AI into my workflow to pay back some of what my poor overworked brain is owed. 🤣
This is an excellent article and paper! I just sent it to all my coworkers.
Thanks Ronnie!