Matthew Hughes
@matthewhughes.bsky.social
Journalist (ex The Register, The Next Web, HowToGeek). Writer. Software developer. Dog owner (x3). Scouser.
I have a newsletter about how tech companies are ruining our lives. https://whatwelost.substack.com/
I have a newsletter about how tech companies are ruining our lives. https://whatwelost.substack.com/
GREAT NEWS EVERYONE!
November 6, 2025 at 4:05 PM
GREAT NEWS EVERYONE!
If I'm wrong about genAI, then bad things will happen.
And I warn you not to be ordinary.
I warn you not to be young.
I warn you not to fall ill.
I warn you not to get old.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And I warn you not to be ordinary.
I warn you not to be young.
I warn you not to fall ill.
I warn you not to get old.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:24 PM
If I'm wrong about genAI, then bad things will happen.
And I warn you not to be ordinary.
I warn you not to be young.
I warn you not to fall ill.
I warn you not to get old.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And I warn you not to be ordinary.
I warn you not to be young.
I warn you not to fall ill.
I warn you not to get old.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The only advice I can give is to not be unlucky -- which is essentially the same advice that Neil Kinnock gave on the eve of the 1983 General Election, which, sadly, Thatcher won.
"I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young."
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
"I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young."
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The only advice I can give is to not be unlucky -- which is essentially the same advice that Neil Kinnock gave on the eve of the 1983 General Election, which, sadly, Thatcher won.
"I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young."
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
"I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young."
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
I also don't believe that we're economically prepared, either.
UBI is a nice idea, but it doesn't work when half the population is unemployed, and big business continues to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
UBI is a nice idea, but it doesn't work when half the population is unemployed, and big business continues to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I also don't believe that we're economically prepared, either.
UBI is a nice idea, but it doesn't work when half the population is unemployed, and big business continues to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
UBI is a nice idea, but it doesn't work when half the population is unemployed, and big business continues to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
To be clear, I don't believe that genAI will destroy the job market.
But I also believe that we are, culturally, not ready for a world where the number of people requiring government assistance to live become a majority.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
But I also believe that we are, culturally, not ready for a world where the number of people requiring government assistance to live become a majority.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
To be clear, I don't believe that genAI will destroy the job market.
But I also believe that we are, culturally, not ready for a world where the number of people requiring government assistance to live become a majority.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
But I also believe that we are, culturally, not ready for a world where the number of people requiring government assistance to live become a majority.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Are we so stupid that we don't think the kind of labor market disruption Altman and Amodei dream of won't result in a compounding of human misery?
Of poverty? Homelessness? Violence? Crime?
They know it will. They just don't care.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Of poverty? Homelessness? Violence? Crime?
They know it will. They just don't care.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Are we so stupid that we don't think the kind of labor market disruption Altman and Amodei dream of won't result in a compounding of human misery?
Of poverty? Homelessness? Violence? Crime?
They know it will. They just don't care.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Of poverty? Homelessness? Violence? Crime?
They know it will. They just don't care.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The societal consequences of Thatcher's economic policy led to her government considering simply letting the city die -- something they called "managed decline."
And, if we believe Amodei and Altman, the AI job losses will be even worse than what Thatcher wrought.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And, if we believe Amodei and Altman, the AI job losses will be even worse than what Thatcher wrought.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The societal consequences of Thatcher's economic policy led to her government considering simply letting the city die -- something they called "managed decline."
And, if we believe Amodei and Altman, the AI job losses will be even worse than what Thatcher wrought.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And, if we believe Amodei and Altman, the AI job losses will be even worse than what Thatcher wrought.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
My hometown, Liverpool, was the hardest hit big city. According to the last census, its population was still less than the start of the Thatcher years.
It suffered decades of deprivation, violence, and urban blight that it's still recovering from.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
It suffered decades of deprivation, violence, and urban blight that it's still recovering from.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
My hometown, Liverpool, was the hardest hit big city. According to the last census, its population was still less than the start of the Thatcher years.
It suffered decades of deprivation, violence, and urban blight that it's still recovering from.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
It suffered decades of deprivation, violence, and urban blight that it's still recovering from.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
It's insane we forgot the lessons of the Thatcher era.
The Thatcher-era job losses were heavily concentrated in select places, and the cuts of those years can STILL be seen today in the former industrial heartlands of Wales and Northern England.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The Thatcher-era job losses were heavily concentrated in select places, and the cuts of those years can STILL be seen today in the former industrial heartlands of Wales and Northern England.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:13 PM
It's insane we forgot the lessons of the Thatcher era.
The Thatcher-era job losses were heavily concentrated in select places, and the cuts of those years can STILL be seen today in the former industrial heartlands of Wales and Northern England.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The Thatcher-era job losses were heavily concentrated in select places, and the cuts of those years can STILL be seen today in the former industrial heartlands of Wales and Northern England.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
They have no answer because there is no answer.
Whether they can pull it off is irrelevant. They want to destroy the job market, with no answer for what happens next.
I can tell you what happens next. A man-made catastrophe.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Whether they can pull it off is irrelevant. They want to destroy the job market, with no answer for what happens next.
I can tell you what happens next. A man-made catastrophe.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:10 PM
They have no answer because there is no answer.
Whether they can pull it off is irrelevant. They want to destroy the job market, with no answer for what happens next.
I can tell you what happens next. A man-made catastrophe.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Whether they can pull it off is irrelevant. They want to destroy the job market, with no answer for what happens next.
I can tell you what happens next. A man-made catastrophe.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And then we get to employment.
Another big lie from genAI is that the jobs it'll displace will be replaced by new, better jobs.
If that's true, why are there so few opportunities even now? Even in the flagbearers of this movement?
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Another big lie from genAI is that the jobs it'll displace will be replaced by new, better jobs.
If that's true, why are there so few opportunities even now? Even in the flagbearers of this movement?
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:08 PM
And then we get to employment.
Another big lie from genAI is that the jobs it'll displace will be replaced by new, better jobs.
If that's true, why are there so few opportunities even now? Even in the flagbearers of this movement?
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Another big lie from genAI is that the jobs it'll displace will be replaced by new, better jobs.
If that's true, why are there so few opportunities even now? Even in the flagbearers of this movement?
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
When Amodei talks about a future where billion-dollar companies have one founder and one employee, it should be read as a warning, not something to celebrate.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
When Amodei talks about a future where billion-dollar companies have one founder and one employee, it should be read as a warning, not something to celebrate.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Generative AI promises that anyone can be a writer, or a software engineer. Anyone can vibe-code themselves a unicorn.
It's a lie that disguises the fact that these companies aspire to become the rent-seeking, blood-sucking nucleus of a new economy.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
It's a lie that disguises the fact that these companies aspire to become the rent-seeking, blood-sucking nucleus of a new economy.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Generative AI promises that anyone can be a writer, or a software engineer. Anyone can vibe-code themselves a unicorn.
It's a lie that disguises the fact that these companies aspire to become the rent-seeking, blood-sucking nucleus of a new economy.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
It's a lie that disguises the fact that these companies aspire to become the rent-seeking, blood-sucking nucleus of a new economy.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The same was true for the Thatcher era.
Privatization was sold as a way to create a new, shareholding middle class. In reality, national assets were sold to existing big businesses and subsequently weaponized against the public.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Privatization was sold as a way to create a new, shareholding middle class. In reality, national assets were sold to existing big businesses and subsequently weaponized against the public.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The same was true for the Thatcher era.
Privatization was sold as a way to create a new, shareholding middle class. In reality, national assets were sold to existing big businesses and subsequently weaponized against the public.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Privatization was sold as a way to create a new, shareholding middle class. In reality, national assets were sold to existing big businesses and subsequently weaponized against the public.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Well, let's start off with inequality. It'll be turbocharged at a rate you never imagined possible.
That's the thing about generative AI. It can only exist through centralization -- even if it, like other technologies, pretends to be a democratizer.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
That's the thing about generative AI. It can only exist through centralization -- even if it, like other technologies, pretends to be a democratizer.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Well, let's start off with inequality. It'll be turbocharged at a rate you never imagined possible.
That's the thing about generative AI. It can only exist through centralization -- even if it, like other technologies, pretends to be a democratizer.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
That's the thing about generative AI. It can only exist through centralization -- even if it, like other technologies, pretends to be a democratizer.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
And so, it's worth talking about what that kind of tech-driven mass unemployment would look like. Let's pretend, for a moment, that Altman and Amodei aren't hucksters.
What you get is, essentially, the worst parts of the worst years of the Thatcher era.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
What you get is, essentially, the worst parts of the worst years of the Thatcher era.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
And so, it's worth talking about what that kind of tech-driven mass unemployment would look like. Let's pretend, for a moment, that Altman and Amodei aren't hucksters.
What you get is, essentially, the worst parts of the worst years of the Thatcher era.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
What you get is, essentially, the worst parts of the worst years of the Thatcher era.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
To be clear, I do not believe that generative AI will *directly* result in mass unemployment.
But I also recognize that if genAI fails, tech will find something else, because it doesn't value human work.
This is what keeps me up at night.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
But I also recognize that if genAI fails, tech will find something else, because it doesn't value human work.
This is what keeps me up at night.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
To be clear, I do not believe that generative AI will *directly* result in mass unemployment.
But I also recognize that if genAI fails, tech will find something else, because it doesn't value human work.
This is what keeps me up at night.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
But I also recognize that if genAI fails, tech will find something else, because it doesn't value human work.
This is what keeps me up at night.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
At the same time, we're seeing a progressive disregard for the value of labor from big tech's leaders -- like when Sam Altman suggested that people who lose their jobs because of AI didn't have "real jobs."
These people have shown their true feelings. They hate you.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
These people have shown their true feelings. They hate you.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 12:56 PM
At the same time, we're seeing a progressive disregard for the value of labor from big tech's leaders -- like when Sam Altman suggested that people who lose their jobs because of AI didn't have "real jobs."
These people have shown their true feelings. They hate you.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
These people have shown their true feelings. They hate you.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Part of this hopelessness stems from the fact that I know this isn't the end.
Big tech has written checks that, for the next few decades, it's going to be cashing -- and it can't service these obligations and pay dividends. Employees will pay the price.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Big tech has written checks that, for the next few decades, it's going to be cashing -- and it can't service these obligations and pay dividends. Employees will pay the price.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Part of this hopelessness stems from the fact that I know this isn't the end.
Big tech has written checks that, for the next few decades, it's going to be cashing -- and it can't service these obligations and pay dividends. Employees will pay the price.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
Big tech has written checks that, for the next few decades, it's going to be cashing -- and it can't service these obligations and pay dividends. Employees will pay the price.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
I've been feeling depressed for a while. It's been a moment where my sense of hopelessness overtakes my anger.
The mass job losses we've seen in the past few weeks, particularly from those companies most involved in genAI, have played a role.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The mass job losses we've seen in the past few weeks, particularly from those companies most involved in genAI, have played a role.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
November 5, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I've been feeling depressed for a while. It's been a moment where my sense of hopelessness overtakes my anger.
The mass job losses we've seen in the past few weeks, particularly from those companies most involved in genAI, have played a role.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
The mass job losses we've seen in the past few weeks, particularly from those companies most involved in genAI, have played a role.
www.whatwelo.st/p/whats-past...
THE FUNNIEST THING.
October 27, 2025 at 11:16 PM
THE FUNNIEST THING.
Australia has the opportunity to do the funniest thing.
October 27, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Australia has the opportunity to do the funniest thing.
Lemlist has the claap.
October 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Lemlist has the claap.