Links 33
Molly Crabapple: “John Henry might have beaten the steam drill, but no human illustrator can work fast enough or cheap enough to compete with their robot replacements. A tiny elite will remain in business, and its work will serve as a status symbol. Everyone else will be gone. ‘You’ll have to adapt,’ AI boosters say, but AI leaves no room for an artist as either a world creator or a craftsman. The only task left is the dull, low-paid and replaceable work of taking weird protrusions off AI-generated noses.”
Over 50s, Britain needs YOU!
The Christmas Price Index “is a tongue-in-cheek economic indicator, maintained by the U.S. bank PNC Wealth Management, which tracks the cost in USD of the items in the carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ […] In general, the prices in the index have reflected the growing service economy in the United States—prices for goods have mostly fallen, but prices for labour have risen greatly. The cost of hiring ladies and lords, for example, has risen over 300 percent. After the high cost of the dancers, the seven swans are the most expensive item on the index; the unpredictable breeding cycle of swans makes their supply uncertain. Much as the United States Consumer Price Index excludes volatile energy and food prices from its ‘core’ index, the core Christmas Price Index excludes the swans; for 2008, the total price index rose 8.1% from 2007, while the core index rose only 1.1%. The cheapest item in the index is the partridge, which, in 2008, could be purchased for $20.”
What actual spies think of TV thrillers: “While the work can be exciting, much of it is of the mundane writing-reports-in-cubicles sort. Any agent who is frequently getting caught up in gun battles is doing something wrong.”
