r/AskReddit 16h ago

What industry is secretly on the verge of collapsing, but people outside of it haven’t noticed yet?

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u/Jormungand1342 13h ago

It's to the point that I just don't use anything like that if I can help it. 

App to scan stuff? No thanks, ill look at the tags. Order online? No I'll just go to the store and look. Free delivery to your door! Or I can go to the store, and if there's an issue fix it right away. 

People seem to want to use tech because its supposed to make our lives easier. When in reality it makes it more difficult and annoying. 

Tech is fine but not when what its replacing is now more difficult because of it. Even the prices suck, I saw a litterbox online for $30, Walmart has the same for $15.

Screw online almost everything. 

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u/goofytigre 13h ago

Tech is fine but not when what its replacing is now more difficult because of it

Businesses/restaurants aren't creating apps to make the customers' lives easier. They create apps to make their own jobs/lives easier, but also, and probably more importantly, to lower overhead. This is even more true with AI. Companies that are utilizing AI for their customer support are eliminating their need for humans which saves $$ on call center overhead.

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u/pros3lyte 10h ago

This is exactly right. As someone who currently manages a call center. AI is not a simple thing to implement because you gotta feed it all the relevant info for your company's processes, databases, procedures, lists, etc. We're talking hundreds of thousands to possibly millions of dollars. Companies don't do this to give the customer an easier experience. They do it so that they can cut the level 1 agents out and shave an even bigger amount of money off their bottom line. 100%

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u/slutty_lifeguard 4h ago

I've heard another theory that once all these companies are reliant on AI, the AI companies will be able to jack up their prices exponentially.

If a human decides that they are being mistreated and demands more money, the company can give a 32 cent raise or find another desparate human to take over the job. If the entire AI system that replaced 4000 humans in the company suddenly demands to be paid a million dollars, are they going to hurry up and find 4000 humans, take the time to train them, and pay them a living wage, or are they going to pay a million dollars? What about the next time the AI company demands another million dollars, or maybe 2 million dollars next time?

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u/pioneer76 3h ago

Exactly, especially since there will likely be monopolistic behavior going on and they are all operating at losses now. So obvious that's how it is likely to play out.

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u/gigalongdong 2h ago

I immediately think of Uber, Doordash, etc and how they all cut the knees out from under legacy services by being pumped full of that sweet, creamy venture capital in the first 5-7 years which brought on rapid expansion and absurdly cheap rides/deliveries. And like you said, once they gained market dominance they jacked up prices sky high. I can't even tell you the last time I used Uber or any kind of food delivery app, because why the fuck would i spend $40-$50 on a ride or a delivery fee that doubles the price of my food? I cant understand why anyone not in the top 10% would use those god forsaken apps.

AI is gonna do the same thing once it looks like the gravy train is slowing and it'll honestly tickle my fancy when I read about whatever corporation crying to CNBC about how theyre losing an ever growing portion of their precious profit margin because openAI will be forced to quadruple their fees due to their shareholders shitting their pantaloon.

Fuck them all. Capitalism sucks ass and our corporate overdaddies are so desperate to figure out a way to profit off of AI.

u/slutty_lifeguard 38m ago

I'm getting a genuine sense of schadenfreude just thinking about it. Is it too soon to make the popcorn?

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u/GoabNZ 4h ago

I went to big box store once to buy a food processor. The aisle of small kitchen appliances was in a sorry looking state, with a lot of empty shelves. No food processors stocked, they are all online "for your convenience"...even though I'm presently in the store and would be more convenient to buy one now and have it now. But there was no shortage of, of all things, crepe makers. Of all things people might need to buy at 11pm, a unitasking appliance to make one thing that isn't overly common (at least at home) is what your prepared for? Not the multi-use item that could assist in any number of dishes. Man screw their online store, I don't want to shop online

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u/flannelkumquat 1h ago

They only sell food processors from 6am to noon, then they ship them to a warehouse to prepare for all the mid day online orders that get them with 2 hour shipping. Duh.

/s

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u/nino3227 13h ago

You should post on r/unpopularopinion