Mike Rowe and writer Jeff Childers sat down for a frank conversation about AI and what leaders in the industry really know about the tech.
“People are afraid that the AI is really ushering in an age of artificiality, which is a kind of fraud,” Rowe said during an episode of his “The Way I Heard It” podcast. “I feel like we’re all gonna be forced real quick to constantly discern the artificial from the authentic.”
Childers, an attorney-turned-writer who pens the popular Substack newsletter “Coffee & Covid,” agreed, pointing out that one of the greater issues is the fact that even leaders in the AI industry are not completely sure how the tech works.
“This is the most remarkable thing about the whole AI phenomenon, which is they still don’t understand how it works,” he explained. “Which is not reassuring! It’s not surprising that the AI does things we don’t expect. We’re learning what it does.”
Rowe replied, “So, we’re armed with the thing that you say nobody can explain on the most fundamental level, and that thing is growing.”
“The next stage that we’re headed for is gonna change everything,” Childers said.
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Rowe frequently shares his thoughts on the growing spread of AI. While many fear it will take jobs from humans, the DIRTY JOBS host says the tech won’t be able to replace skilled workers.
“AI is coming for the coders. It’s not yet coming for the welders, and that basic understanding has taken root,” he told Fox Business’ VARNEY & CO. “Certainly nobody has a crystal ball, but it seems pretty clear, and I haven’t talked to anybody that disagrees with the idea that the category of jobs or the cohort of workers least likely to be disrupted by AI is going to be welders and electricians and steam fitters and pipe fitters, and energy workers and so forth.”
Speaking to Fox News, Rowe explained, “We have, for the last 30 years, been elevating our white-collar portion of the workforce at the expense of the blue-collar portion. We have been sort of intimating that the robots and the technology that is certainly on the horizon, if not already here, are coming for the blue-collar jobs. It’s turning out to be something quite the opposite- it’s the white-collar positions.”
“These are looking very wobbly right now,” he continued. “The AI is going to come for those [jobs].”
Rowe’s recent conversation with Childers is a reminder to be careful with AI technology, as even its developers are unsure of just how it works.
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