China's AI Enthusiasm Is a Lesson Learned from the 1990s Layoffs
Boarding China's Last Bus
While Americans fear AI, over 85% of Chinese see it as beneficial. This optimism, the article argues, stems from the 1990s state-sector reforms that caused mass layoffs in the Northeast but prosperity in the Pearl River Delta. Chinese society learned that disruption is inevitable and the only permissible response is to embrace it. The piece contrasts the painful, rewarding reform with the American belief that technology can be steered or stopped, suggesting worried Americans may be looking into a mirror.
For many workers in the northeast, employment was everything. Before xiagang, most workers' lives were organized around the danwei—the work unit that was not simply an employer but a total social world.
- feelingsonice
What evidence are there that this statistical gap in AI enthusiasm shouldn't be interpreted as is? What if China IS just more enthusiastic about AI? It sounds like the author pointed out differences in surveyed enthusiasm, and then basically said "well this can't be real."
- largbae
This hits hard. Everyone wants to be relevant in the next iteration. But how exactly to do that is still up in the air.
- minimaltom
This was an incredible read, take my upvote!