The sectors of work that have been largely pushed out of economy in recent decades have not been defended by serious state policy. In fact there are whole groups of crucial workers, like teachers or nurses, who are kept around barely surviving in many countries. The groups protected by the state tend to be heavily organized and directly related to exploitation of natural strategic resources, like farmers or miners.
There is no particular sympathy towards programmers in society, I don't think. Based on what I observe calling the mood neutral would be fair, and this is mostly because the group expanded, and way more people have someone benefiting from IT in their family. I don't see why there would be a big intervention for programmers. Artists maybe, but these are proverbially poor anyway, and the ones with popular clout tended to somehow get rich despite the business models of culture changing.
I am all for copyright reform etc., but I don't see making culture public good, in a way that directly leads to more artisanal creators, as anything straightforward. This would have to entail some heavier and non-obvious (even if desirable) changes to the economic system. It's debatable if code is culture anyway, though I could see an argument for software, like Linux and other tools.
> I fear that 90% of the worlds' data
Don't wanna go into a tangent in this already long post, but I'd dispute if these data really reflect the whole knowledge we accumulated in books (particularly non-English) and otherwise not put into reachable and digestible formats. Meaning, sure, they have these data, they can target individual people with private stuff they have on them, but this isn't full accumulation of human knowledge that is objectively useful.
> There is no particular sympathy towards programmers in society, I don't think.
The concern policy makers have is not about programmers, but about boatloads of other people having no time to adapt to the massive wave these policymakers see coming.
There a strong signals that anyone who produces text, speech, pictures or whatever is going to be affected by it. If the value of labor goes down, if a large part of humanity cannot reach a level anymore to meaningfully contribute, if productivity eclipses demand growth, you simply will see lots of people left behind.
Strong societies depend on strong middle classes. If the middle class slips, so will the economy, so no good news for blue collar as well. AI has the potential to suffocate the organism that created it.
There is no particular sympathy towards programmers in society, I don't think. Based on what I observe calling the mood neutral would be fair, and this is mostly because the group expanded, and way more people have someone benefiting from IT in their family. I don't see why there would be a big intervention for programmers. Artists maybe, but these are proverbially poor anyway, and the ones with popular clout tended to somehow get rich despite the business models of culture changing.
I am all for copyright reform etc., but I don't see making culture public good, in a way that directly leads to more artisanal creators, as anything straightforward. This would have to entail some heavier and non-obvious (even if desirable) changes to the economic system. It's debatable if code is culture anyway, though I could see an argument for software, like Linux and other tools.
> I fear that 90% of the worlds' data
Don't wanna go into a tangent in this already long post, but I'd dispute if these data really reflect the whole knowledge we accumulated in books (particularly non-English) and otherwise not put into reachable and digestible formats. Meaning, sure, they have these data, they can target individual people with private stuff they have on them, but this isn't full accumulation of human knowledge that is objectively useful.