Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Jack Ma Says 12-Hour Work Week could be the Norm

posted by martyb on Monday October 14 2019, @02:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the wages-vs-prices dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Billionaire Jack Ma, long an outspoken advocate for China's extreme work culture, says that people should be able to work just 12 hours a week with the benefits of artificial intelligence.

People could work as little as three days a week, four hours a day with the help of technology advances and a reform in education systems, the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder said at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai Thursday. He spoke on-stage with Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. who is building manufacturing facilities in the city.

[...] Just this year, Ma endorsed the China tech sector's infamous 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week routine, so common it earned the moniker 996. In one blog post, China's richest man this year dismissed people who expect a typical eight-hour office lifestyle, defying a growing popular backlash.

"I don't worry about jobs," Ma said on Thursday, making an optimistic case that AI will help humans rather than just eliminate their work. "Computers only have chips, men have the heart. It's the heart where the wisdom comes from."

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Jack Ma Says 12-Hour Work Week could be the Norm | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 85 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 14 2019, @05:39PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 14 2019, @05:39PM (#907049) Journal

    Consider LED lights, which are 10 times as efficient as incandescents. The increased efficiency results in increased demand for light, but the efficiency gain is so extreme that the demand for electricity falls.

    According to this report [eia.gov] consumption of electricity is expected to grow from 4000 TWh (terrawatt hours) to 5500 TWh in thirty years.

  • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday October 14 2019, @11:30PM (2 children)

    by Mykl (1112) on Monday October 14 2019, @11:30PM (#907166)

    I tried finding the numbers in the linked document, but was not successful. My question - does this energy increase account for population increase as well (i.e. will the per-capita energy use be higher or lower than today)?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 14 2019, @11:37PM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 14 2019, @11:37PM (#907168) Journal
      30% increase in 30 years? Not likely even with immigration back to old levels.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @10:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @10:25PM (#907587)

        Did you forget about battery electric car charging? If even half the electric cars that are currently projected are purchased, that should add 30% pretty easily.