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AI Replacing CEOs

5 points by learningstud ↗ HN
CEOs have been talking about how programmers, attorneys, etc. will be replaced by AI. However, the CEO seems like the perfect role to be replaced by AI. Why isn't the board nor investors bullish on replacing their CEO? At the very least, a large salary can be cut.

12 comments

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andsoitis
What do you think is the job of the CEO?
learningstud
Coordination. However, just like Hayek explained how it's much more practical and beneficial to rely on the impersonal price system for coordination than central planning. The bigger the company, the less beneficial to have CEO coordinate the company.
ai-christianson
As a similar concept, I've been seeing a lot of "normal" (non-technical) people on social media platforms putting out videos where they let ChatGPT run their life, or make ChatGPT form a company, and they act as the AI's "hands."
techapple
I guess this depends on the kind of CEO, but I think a lot of the CEO’s job is to be a human being / celebrity with a perspective.

Is Elon Musk a better CEO because of the decisions he makes about his companies or because he gets other humans to follow him. Probably both, but you can’t exclude the latter.

idermoth
Yes, this is part of it, (but I'll say, only a fraction of it.)

Big crisis at the company? Some businesses deal with very sensitive situations, which can include deaths or serious financial/info breaches. I discussed one of these with an org just this week.

Can you imagine the reaction to an AI that's scripted out a response?

"We're genuinely sorry... [insert 1000 words of generic feel-good garbage]."

We all know the AI isn't genuinely sorry, and good luck having it respond to the angry reactions from its own de-humanized response.

Or not...it likely wouldn't be able to tell when to respond and when to leave well enough alone. Not that every executive knows either, but still.

billy99k
Do you really want the direction of an entire company to be dictated by AI? You act as if the CEO does nothing, which isn't true. One of the main jobs is networking/maintaining relationships, which isn't something that can be done with AI.

Jobs where you just sit and work all day with little human interaction will most likely be replaced by AI first.

krapp
The entire point of AI in this context is to allow capitalists to maximize profits by automating and eliminating their workforce. Why on earth would they work against their own interests by making themselves surplus to requirements?
learningstud
The real capitalists are the board and investors.