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This discussion has been archived.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 Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:54PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 15 2019, @02:54PM (#907385) Journal
    That's true, but even then we're on the verge of sublinear (that is, slower than linear) population growth worldwide. The world is changing from the Malthusian narrative. It might not be enough, fast enough, but at least it's in the right direction.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @09:04PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @09:04PM (#907565)

    and part of that is due to improvements in technology with respect to birth control. Birth control has gotten cheaper, more effective, and has fewer side effects.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:40AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:40AM (#907651) Journal
      Part is also due to women's emancipation. In much of the world, women have a lot more choices than merely pumping out kids.

      In any case, that's the solution to overpopulation: birth control, women's emancipation, and growing wealth of the global populace. It's all there.