There is a New York Times article from Sept of 2018 titled, “The Craftsman Sill Making Windsor Chairs by Hand.” The article celebrates a George Sawyer, the latest in a family of chair builders that continues to build chairs without power tools. I also build chairs, and so can you. A trip to Ikea can deliver a chair kit with all the tools you need for $40. By some definition I am a chair builder, but the New York Times will not be writing an article about me.
To better understand what ChatCPT and Artificial Intelligence can and will do to the workforce and the notion of work I went looking for examples in history that can provide a roadmap. I believe a strong comparison can be drawn between the Craftsman who were devalued and the writers and designers of today.
In a 1954 paper by HR Percy, the author details the decline of craftsmanship and the shift from craftsman to tradesman to laborer. The similarities and warning signs are useful as we sit on the edge of a brave new AI world.
We start in mediaeval Europe where members of Craft Guilds are respected artisans working their lives to hone their craft. Each master taking on an apprentice who in turn took years to understand and appreciate the philosophy, heritage, and moral code. They placed pride in one’s work and the prestige of their reputation above all else.
The first disruption came from the simple economic factors of supply and demand. As towns and cities grew the slow methodical model could not keep up. Enter the merchant class, the go-between for artisan and the end user. With the removal of the personal connection the cost of on item is evaluated alongside the quality of the work itself. The pressure to produce more and reduced pressure for the producer to be the seasoned master changed the apprentice model. The need to produce gave way to an expedited apprentice process with less one-to-one instruction.
The second disruption is a change in the workforce. The concept of a labor pool and hired labor destabilized the relationship between teacher and student. Before the apprentice was born into the role, often a child or relative, with the assumption that they would become an equal peer and a master themselves one day. Now the training was reduced to what was required to get the job done without the deeper appreciation for the craft.
The greatest disruptor arrives in the form of the Industrial Revolution. In our case, what we will call the AI Revolution. The artisan and craftsman disappear replaced briefly by the tradesman and ultimately by the laborer. The laborer doesn’t create, they operate a machine. There was a time when a furniture builder signed their work; felt pride in their creation. Now they are a replaceable part on an assembly line.
We are in the infancy of our revolution. When we look back at the disruptors that lead us here, we see that they are the same in our story. When we separate the end user from the creator it is easy to become and stay anonymous. When we value getting more done and making more money, we sacrifice a deeper connection to the work and our coworkers. Ultimately, we commoditize the work we do. We have created a way to create a piece of visual or written art with the same lack of skill and education that we need to assemble a chair from Ikea.
At the end of the paper the author speculates what is the future for the craftsman of the past and points to a choice between production and design. Design being the preferred escape from the production line.
What is the future for the writers and artists who today feel threatened by the AI Revolution? Yes, there is a future where they too will have little pride and ownership in their work and no longer feel the need to sign their name to the work they do. The solution I look to is the next rung up the ladder–innovation and strategy. There may be a day when AI can replace all forms of human thinking, but for now the human mind still has an edge in its ability to imagine, question, and create something new. Someone has to come up with the prompts to type into the AI interface.
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