Claims of AI inevitability have driven headlines, executive pronouncements, layoffs, and institutional responses such as AI certificate programs backed by industry. Many firms have used AI adoption as justification for substantial staff reductions and for promoting credentials that signal awareness rather than deep skill. Historical patterns show that hype can serve marketing goals, attract users, and reduce the skill required for work, producing deskilled roles and brittle systems. Mar Hicks researches the history of technology and computing, documenting how loss of skilled workers weakened Britain’s computing leadership and examining how centralized digital infrastructures can erode democratic power.
AI usage has been deemed by some to be an inevitablity. Many recent headlines and reports quote technology leaders and business executives who say AI will replace jobs or must be used to stay competitive in a variety of industries. There have already been real ramifications for the labor market; some companies have laid off a substantial number of employees to " go all-in" on AI. In response, a number of colleges are creating AI certificate programs for students to demonstrate at least their " awareness" of the technology to future employers, often with backing from the AI companies themselves.
Looking at the history of technology, however, the pronouncements that have been made about generative AI and work can be better understood as marketing tactics to create hype, gain new users, and ultimately deskill jobs as a result. Deskilling reduces the level of competence required to do a job and funnels knowledgeable workers out of their positions, leaving brittle infrastructure behind in their place.
Hicks' award-winning book, Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge In Computing, is about how Britain lost its edge as the leader in electronic computing as the proportion of women in computing declined, and there was a dearth of workers with the expertise, knowledge, and skills required to operate increasingly complex computer systems. Hicks co-edited Your Computer is On Fire, a collection of essays that examine how technologies that centralize power tend to weaken democracy,
Collection
[
|
...
]