to the editor: Reading about all the people volunteering to video capture their manual labor to train AI robotic systems reminds me of companies that fire their workers, but tell them to train their replacements (“Why do hundreds of people in Los Angeles wear body cameras to do household chores?” March 12).
It's bad enough that white-collar workers and college graduates are losing jobs to AI applications. Now AI robotics companies are paying people to help train AI robots to perform manual tasks. Therefore, jobs that were supposed to be secure will become vulnerable to machine replacement. Right now the tasks are relatively mundane, but when will they transition to more complex jobs performed by plumbers, electricians and mechanics?
There's no rush to put people to work at a living wage, but tech companies do want to accelerate the development of human-like robots (that don't need to be paid) to replace human workers.
Les Hartzman, Los Angeles
