Artificial intelligence - like chopping your own legs off?

If you ask any translator (like me) about work this year, they will all tell you that work seems to have dropped off a cliff. Some people are getting only 50% of their normal workload.

And if you ask them why this is the case, the response will very likely be that companies are saving money by using (often free) apps such as Google Translate and the like to satisfy their translation needs. We've all heard about ChatGPT recently, right? And how it will eliminate many a thinking person's job. Professions mentioned include, for example, law professor, social worker and English teachers.

So the companies can save money on translation...but the knock-on effect is that with a thousand euros a month less (on average), I'm not spending money like I used to.

Ultimately, the companies will be about as well off as before: they'll save money on outgoings, but have less money coming into the company in sales of goods and services.

For an economy to flourish, money has to flow. It's a cycle. It's not about hoarding so you die with the biggest pile of money under your mattress. What goes around comes around is a saying that means that you will ultimately have to deal with the consequences of your actions. If the money isn't going around and flowing through society, the consequences will be many more poorer people and lower sales.

A rather short-sighted approach, don't you think? Rather like chopping your own legs off to save the expense of shoes and trousers.