Despite all the AI nonsense happening right now, I have a simple question. Do you feel valued? From one human to another.

Professionally? No

As a family member or friend? Yes

As a member of society? Barely

What’s the context of your question?

As a retired person: no, apart from by other retired people in the village, because we help each other out with our different skill-sets.

We still have a few friends but they are scattered; we meet mostly at funerals.

Politicians think we’re too expensive (healthcare, pensions, etc.) although they’re careful not to be too nasty, as apparently we vote more than other demographics. The fascists think we might vote for them (not a chance).

The young are busy with their own lives as they should be and so we are mostly seen as an inconvenience or, at best, a future inheritance. I’m fine with this: they’ve got it tough and we help where we can.

The AI crowd know we’re too old for that shit (we remember all the bubbles). We don’t buy much stuff either, so the capitalists and advertisers aren’t happy with us. The pub likes us but wishes we’d visit more often. The fund managers are going off us as our pension funds dwindle. I think the lady in the corner shop has a good opinion of us, although she thinks I buy too much beer.

Valued by my friends and family? Yes, very much so!

Value by society? No, not so much, but it’s mutual.

No.

I can’t find sustainable work. I don’t have a romantic partner. I’m old and now facing bleak years left on Earth.

I’m staunchly anti gen ai. Yesterday, while I was 12 hours into a terribly paid illustration work, I had the sad realization that this really could have been over, and better than I could ever do in 5 minutes with a couple of fucking ai prompts. I nearly broke down crying. I guess I ‘m just not seeing value in myself anymore. Maybe I’m just sad and stupid today. Idk … Sigh.

Not at all. I’m pretty sure, if I died now, it would take a few months for anyone to notice anything.

Yes, outside of social media. I love my job, my friends, family and just try to enjoy my life.

But, then I use social media like Facebook or Instagram and the algorithm is really hardcore pushing the “AI is taking over engineering is dead!!” narrative. As an engineer that makes me feel terrible/not valued, even though I know it’s not true.

I basically just stopped using social media outside of this and reddit.

I am working to build queer community in my Southern red state. It’s hard, and everyone wants more from me than I can deliver. Trying to help a volunteer write a grant proposal. Trying to keep my shit together. Trying to move a thousand small boulders up a thousand small hills.

I do feel valued when I see my son, and he comes running up to me, and gives me a huge hug, which will happen tonight.

But I am also terribly lonely, and it’s the kind where plenty of people are around me, but I am still lonely, because I am not able to be open and authentic to them. They want a leader . Being vulnerable has caused problems with that.

Every once in a while I can buy a bag of weed and then, for a while, none of it matters and I can just roll the boulders all day.

I haven’t felt valued since 1981.

absolutely not. I have been out of work for close to two years. I feel unvalued. I feel like my education and experience is unvalued. I feel my society is saying. You should not contribute. We don’t want it. I feel its saying we do everything in a super automated low effort way but you should distinguish yourself but doing a bunch of manual things to make up for anything our automated systems does not do properly which is kinda everything. You should work very hard to prove your work should be compensated.

No. I don’t even feel human anymore.

I only feel valued by my friends and family. My job doesn’t make me feel valued, nor does society. Without my family, I’d struggle to find reasons to go on.

I feel like the most worthless person in the world, generally and almost all of the time. Consequence of not getting along well with others plus not being hardworking enough to achieve anything.

My sense of my value as a human being isn’t dependent on societal conditions or the opinions of others. The value of a human is intrinsic and uncontestable. AI has nothing to do with it whatsoever.

I think it is sort of sad that people took this as “valued by your employer”. Not sad for them specifically, but for the state of things. I am sure y’all are valued by your friends and family.

For sure. Mostly from friends and family, but also in the things I do and the projects I accomplish. It’s a wonderful life.

Literally watching a presentation right now where they quoted “Use AI intentionally, not as the only answer”

On the other hand my human knowledge is invalidated because my kpis focus more on how frequently I use ai than on what I do

In my real life, also mostly no. My kids are in college, so they mostly need their bills paid and I rarely see them in person

No

I feel like a mote of dust waiting to be vacuumed.

I am excess cast off from a system that exists to extract profit. my value has already been extracted

God no.

What makes you feel valued?

…and is that something that can be delivered remotely, through a screen?

I ask this not because I necessarily want or expect a specific answer, but because everyone who reads my comment should stop and spend a few minutes considering what the answer is for them personally.

And then think about what you think the answer might be for other people in your life, and what makes them feel valued.

What can you do, to make that happen more often for yourself, and for others? Personally, I think nothing is quite as rewarding as making someone else feel valued.

Talk to your family. Talk to your friends. They want to hear from you, even if they’re busy.

I will flip your question. All this AI none sense has made me value people more.

I value human musicians with passion and new interesting sounds; I value human visual artists and what they add to our graphical landscape I value journalists and just people putting themselves out there to share their honest opinion in a world so overtaken by propaganda and information wars; I value people who are trying to learn and teach new things, that want to do research and make sense of the world. And I value disagreeing and getting mad at people and saying dumb shit and doing dumb shit and realizing i have areas where i need to work on and improve myself. I value humans, and i wont waste my time on AI or LLM’s

I don’t really care if I’m valued, and i don’t care about systems of values, i barely have time to make and experience.

I’d say yes. I worked hard to be “that person” that people like and can trust and they know I’m knowledgeable in a lot of subjects. They can call me to ask questions anytime. They borrow my cars and tools. They dont take advantage of me though. Actually I wish they’d ask for help more often because I have a lot of things and skills to offer.

Mainly I just always wanted to be likeable. I don’t enjoy being mean.

No

Yeah, the wife’s excited every time I come home. Also my friends insist on going out of their ways for me and actively putting in effort to spend time with me. I’m surrounded by love and appreciation

Yea, all around.

Though I don’t know if it will last, but I hope it does. I’m a bit fortunate and priviledged tbh…

Idk i don’t think feeling “valued” is what it’s about. If you mean by that, what price tag my employer puts on me, and how much money they’re willing to pay me, well idk.

Is life really about being valued? By who? And who are they valued by, in turn? Is it all a big circle jerk? Where does value come from?

Yes, I feel valued. These are hard times, I’m worried for me, my family - due to climate collapse, war, the breakdown of democracy. Yet, I have decided to help people in developing countries and locally as a pro-bono coach, and I’ve become politically active. The response shows that people value me; my opinions amd my support.

My answer has nothing to do with ai, but.. no.

And that’s okay.

There are things worse than being invisible. Like being stuck with a bunch of crackheads, for example.

Very much so. Both at home and work.

No, not really.

Especially by myself.

By myself, yes.

I didn’t feel valued before AI and I certainly don’t feel that way after.

Depends on the human.

Work? No

Wife? Yes
Baby? Who knows what goes on in those things.
Rest of the family? Quite likely.

Generally, yes. I spent years of quite a bit of effort to only surround myself with people who treat me as an equal & share my general values. I have to turn my brain off during serving-the-capitalists hours though.

Yes. My company is trying to retain its workers and treats us very well, but also expects the best of us. I’m more than happy to do my job to the best of my ability in a (gasp) inclusive environment that celebrates diversity and goes out of its way to do so.

We also use AI as part of our job, but management has made it very clear that they won’t (and can’t) replace its human talent. They also seem to know what it can and cannot do and I appreciate that.

Outside of that, jeez, it’s hard to tell. Life’s a bit rough everywhere.

Fuck no

I do, but I’m constantly exhausted and stressed, so there’s that.

Not at work, at home yes.

Yes, and for some reason I still have trouble believing it.

Sure, around $5.7 million.

Some days more than others, but generally, not really.

Sure. AI hasn’t really encroached on anything that makes me feel valued.

if “feeling valued” is a human emotion, it’s not one I’m familiar with

Yup.

At work, at home, perhaps not on the internet.

No. But sometimes yes.

Usually no but that doesn’t have much to do with AI

Not particularly, at least not by anyone other than my wife. She thinks I’m pretty great, and I just don’t see it. I think I’m pretty average and unremarkable, and the world will just keep moving along without me once I’m gone. Takes the pressure off a bit, tbh, because it makes the stakes pretty low. If no one values what you provide, then it doesn’t really matter if you meet their expectations or not.

From one human to another, yes I feel valued within my family. Beyond that? Not so much.