hackertube.io

What Happened to Horses Is Happening to Us

CGP Grey · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Labor, work & inequalityAI safety, AGI & impactRobotics

What it is

CGP Grey's video "Humans Need Not Apply" argues that automation will make a large part of the workforce economically obsolete, much as engines did for horses. It surveys robots and software replacing both physical and mental labor.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN has recommended it for a decade as the standard explainer on automation and unemployment, though skeptics later cite it as an example of overconfident predictions.

  • 11 people recommended it
  • 11 different months
  • 5 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “CGP Grey did a great video on this[1].”

    Great video on AI making jobs redundant.

    zyx321, 2014-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Artificial Intelligence Isn’t a Threat – Yet”

  2. “I highly recommend CGP Greys video”

    Good overview of automation and unemployment.

    polymatter, 2015-04 · Strong recommendation · in “The Machines Are Coming”

  3. “Excellent video on the subject: CGPGrey - Humans Need Not Apply”

    Excellent video on job automation.

    scrollaway, 2015-09 · Strong recommendation · in “Amazon Flex”

  4. “which I strongly recommend, if you haven't already seen it”

    Strongly recommended video on automation.

    csl, 2015-11 · Strong recommendation · in “The Most Common Job in Each State 1978-2014”

  5. “I always refer people to this video to explain what it will be like”

    Debunks historical analogies about automation.

    noetic_techy, 2016-12 · Strong recommendation · in “The AI Unemployment Anti-FAQ (2013)”

  6. “A huge portion of the workforce will be unemployable in our lifetimes”

    Argues much of workforce will be unemployable.

    zanny, 2014-08 · Recommendation · in “Hal Finney being cryopreserved now”

  7. “it's quite compelling.”

    Compelling take on human obsolescence.

    abandonliberty, 2014-10 · Recommendation · in “1984 v. Brave New World”

  8. “I strongly adhere to the views expressed in the video 'Humans Need Not Apply' by CGPGrey[1]”

    Views on automation and purpose of education.

    fizixer, 2015-03 · Recommendation · in “Coding is not the new literacy”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: automation, jobs, ai, economics, robotics

Also recommended by the same people