Excerpt: Students don’t want to cheat; they certainly don’t want to erode the value of an education that may be costing them or their family a small fortune. But if you have seven assignments due in five days, and AI could speed up the work by tenfold for the cost of a large pizza, what are you meant to do?

Me again: Well, there are sure to be exceptions and for double-sure I shouldn’t say this out loud, but college has always cost a major chunk of kids’ personalities and potentials. Many-maybe-most college students are on a trajectory toward a blah life in middle management or teaching middle school. AI will make their lives a little shittier and more dull, but their lives were destined for shitty and dull soon as they enrolled.

Sorry, kids. Porn is another line of work that’s going to dwindle away, thanks to AI.

I’m joyously retired now, but office work was my entire ‘career’, and it was sweet and easy. Anyone with a decent command of English and numbers, anyone who could write a coherent sentence, prep a tidy and accurate report, and had a decent eye for catching other people’s errors and not making too many of their own, could have steady work. Every company needed good office help, so when one boss pissed you off, you could easily find the same job elsewhere. The work was less than fascinating, sure, but the pay was OK, the chairs were comfortable, muscle aches were rare, and I never came home particularly sweaty.

More and more, AI does that work now. It’ll never do it as well, as accurately, it won’t be able to spot and solve problems on the fly, and instead of soothing ruffled customers it’ll ruffle them further. It’ll be “good enough,” though, so ‘careers’ like mine will be impossible for the next generation.