I have started automating my own personal investment workbooks using Claude Code.
Nothing too complicated, just trying to get improved long-term information for decision-making (running simulations based on scenarios and economic+tax assumptions. That sort of thing).
As soon as I have some free time, Iâm going to dump in all my business and personal finances and have it do help me do some goal setting. That level of information just wasnât available prior to a year or so ago.
Sizeable opposition to AI data centres in Canada but the Province of Alberta is heavily promoting them.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bakx-york-ai-data-centres-alberta-solomon-9.7222388
The local region just expropriated 700 acres of farmland about a mile from where I live. They claim itâs for business development, and also claim itâs not for any specific business.
If this shows up as a data center, Iâm gonna become an activist.
So where should your AI compute come from?
For or against?
existing infrastructure built on other peopleâs farmland, Iâd guessing.
NIMFY (Not In My Farm Yard).
Very much against under the current structure. Iâm fine with data centers, goodness knows Iâve used their services for the last 25 years and continue to do so. ButâŚ
So basically welcome them, but only if theyâre paying for the priviledge. I suspect/am concerned that politicians see this big building as a way to attract employment and growth in the area. Except, theyâre not. THeyâre basically locusts, consuming and not returning anything. Theyâre necessary, but we need to make sure they donât get any discounts or breaks that a normal business would get (because they bring in other advantages).
At the xAI data centers in/near Memphis, you have the controversies of the air pollution being generated from the on-site generators, as well as Elmo deciding not to invest in water recycling, adding to stress on the local aquifer.
Another devastating study. According to law professors, default Gemini 2.5 is much better at tutoring contract law than law professors.
I guess thatâs a fairly limited domain, but once again the bots really knock it out of the park.
Iâm long past judging or being a naysayer. Ai is coming, and itâs awesome for a lot of things. yep, some jobs are going away, some changes are going to be made and some stuff is different. I just accept that, whining about it wonât change the inevitable.
People complained about pcs in the workplace, and sure enough, nobody has secretaries anymore. But all the complaints didnât change that the time if secretaries was over.
funny my mom was a killer secretary. I forget what her typing speed was, 120wpm? and a killer on the shorthand as well. too bad mom.
You my brother??
I was discussing this with a friend of mine from LSE in London and the economic consensus seems to be that we are heading to a world of higher structural unemployment (due to AI) but also higher productivity (due to AI).
This combination has never happened before in economic history. Its going to be a challenge because unless you have some sort of UBI-type payment, you are likely to see a lot of social and political unrest.
Iâve been arguing with a friend on this for years. Every other time in history when we gained efficiency we found new uses for labour. This time does feel different, but Iâm sure every other time also felt different at the time.
Global governance is whatâs missing so taxes get actually paid.
The industrial revolution.
I was comparing it to the intro of the pc or the intro of the internet, but itâs closer to the industrial revolution for the reasons you described.
I donât know. Maybe jobs wonât be eliminated and this will be like the invention of Excel, where we run the AI ourselves and that lets us post on the internet more.
Or maybe new jobs will come. Or old jobs for that matter-- maybe weâll solve the teacher shortage, and take on more blue-collar projects.
Or maybe there will be no new jobs, and the modern world will shift towards feudalism and communism. Pre-American Dream.
Or maybe the jobs will come, but it will take 40 years, and the displaced wonât get them. And we will follow WVâs current model of SSDI and heroin.
I think one of the biggest changes is going to be how we train new employees. As mentioned earlier, AI is a HUGE help when you have the requisite business knowledge to evaluate, guide, and refine AI outputs. The (future) problem is going to be what happens when the current cohort of âqualifiedâ individuals leave the work force. Who will have that requisite business knowledge? How does one gain that knowledge? (Note: the answer to the latter will NOT come from AI any time soon.)
gonna be some money in consulting on how to use AI and integrate ai.
Education is another big one, how do you teach stuff when all the information and the solutions are at your fingertips already, and probably better than a prof can provide? A UWaterloo professor this week on reddit mentioned this, said he was teetering on the edge of using AI to design questions.
My guess? Things are going to move towards a focus more on âthinkingâ or logic or thinking structurally. Less of anything that would ever need to be calculated, and more towards straight proofs kind of thing.
How do we teach arithmetic in a world where almost everyone has a calculator in their pocket?
Weâve faced these challenges before, and society hasnât collapsed yet because of them.