The Iron Law of AI is essentially Parkinson’s Law.
The importance of a manager is demonstrated by having something or, better yet, someone to manage. The more you manage the greater your importance and thus organisations will grow driven by ego and competition.
Also a subordinate is not a rival 😉
These people need to have something to do to justify their existence so the machinery and friction within the organisation grow.
Occasionally the market or politics will demand a cull. Stacked ranking, “reducing bureaucracy”. Lots of different names but all essentially arbitrary cuts which rely on the belief that a lower weight will help you run faster ergo cutting off one of your legs will make you run faster.
AI is an obvious tool for leg amputation – replace our paralegals with bots and hope we don’t get sued out of existence for pleading hallucinations – but AI goes beyond this.
AI has become a status symbol. So it becomes a fungible substitute for staff in terms of Parkinson’s Law too.
The more you AI the more status you have.
But those magic pixies don’t come for free…
Mark O'Neill 