I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year.
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@jalefkowit @cwebber Isn't AI-as-a-service heavily subsidised at the moment though? This can't go on forever.
@dukeboitans @jalefkowit @cwebber no you need to understand, the genius is that taxpayer money the AI companies get is partially spent to line the pockets of the people deciding on subsidies. they can keep that up for as long as it takes
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@cwebber because that would mean spending money on wages and companies are forbidden by their religion to do so
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(And note that *each engineer* at the org has a budget for token spend that's equivalent to what I make in a year)
@cwebber i bet that's completely sustainable and will last forever
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@cwebber I'm not advocating replacing humans but I think the business case would be that an AI doesn't sleep, eat, take breaks, get sick, go on holiday or require a raise every year. Also an employer pays more than your salary, the line item for a human resource is salary plus payroll tax, and benefits. so it's usually your gross salary plus 30%.
I really do get where you're coming from though. AI should be a force multiplier not an excuse to layoff staff.@mike Is it true that AI won't require a raise every year? I wouldn't be surprised that executives would think that, but it seems like token price inflation would be a lot harder for companies to mitigate than it has been for them to suppress wages. AI has the whole multi-billion dollar company apparatus behind it, most employees are lucky if they can afford an employment lawyer to read their contracts.
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@mike Is it true that AI won't require a raise every year? I wouldn't be surprised that executives would think that, but it seems like token price inflation would be a lot harder for companies to mitigate than it has been for them to suppress wages. AI has the whole multi-billion dollar company apparatus behind it, most employees are lucky if they can afford an employment lawyer to read their contracts.
@cargot_robbie @cwebber Fair point
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@cwebber I'm not advocating replacing humans but I think the business case would be that an AI doesn't sleep, eat, take breaks, get sick, go on holiday or require a raise every year. Also an employer pays more than your salary, the line item for a human resource is salary plus payroll tax, and benefits. so it's usually your gross salary plus 30%.
I really do get where you're coming from though. AI should be a force multiplier not an excuse to layoff staff. -
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
AI isn't funded by the fossil fuel industry for its revenue or ROI (return on investment).
AI initiatives exist to launder fossil fuel money for corrupt petrostate despots.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/saudi-arabia-ai-exporter.htmlAI initiatives exist to burn more fossil fuel, wastefully.
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-energy-industry-ai-fossil-fuels-pittsburgh-summit/There's also the chokepoint capitalism, electricity rate surge, state surveillance, election meddling, wage suppression, price fixing, predatory pricing, rent fixing, & automated warfare.
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
@cwebber Tokens don't unionize
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
@cwebber it's not rational spending, but irrational resentment. Corpos resent employees with the energy of a thousand suns. They see every work-life accommodation as a conspiracy to steal their god given right to profit margins and every paycheck as a defeat.
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
@cwebber ai cant unionize
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
@cwebber sooo they don't have to pay into #HealthInsurance and can shift that burden to you instead #CapitalStrike
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I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.
So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent
@cwebber
They lie that they cannot find the talent -
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