If this whole AI craze was actually about replacing labor, I honestly believe it would have started with firing and automating CEOs.

I’m not even saying that as a “eat the rich” shtick - AI is great at analyzing huge datasets and determining a conclusion from the results. It would obviously need refinement, but that would probably be the major role I could see it immediately taking over.

Except in fact we have just seen 2 centuries of drudgery automated. Have you seen a combine harvester?

Does it? I'd imagine it just makes sense that the tech used for AI in art would be used for art.

I don't see how it would be used for labor without a bunch of other steps.

And as also pointed out, there's tech that, while not specifically "AI", is used to replace labor.

I read an article (probably linked to from here) about how “Luddite” isn’t the insult many people think it is. Luddites weren’t dumb, or superstitious and needlessly afraid of technology.

The historical Luddites were knowledgeable regarding technology. They weren’t anti-technology in general, they simply didn’t trust the rich and powerful to use it in a way that genuinely benefited society as a whole. Unfortunately, capitalists did what capitalists always do - they used machines to churn out inferior goods and cut worker pay. That’s why Luddites destroyed/sabotaged machines.

After learning that, I started considering Luddite a compliment.

Yeah I agree. That's why I said it was their ostensive goal. Their actual goal has only ever been profit.

Not if you're too busy between your two jobs manually training the LLM models and supervising the supposedly autonomous cars to make rent.