Short Thoughts

Quoting Toby Stuart on the EconTalk episode The Invisible Hierarchies that Rule Our World

The episode ended with a discussion on the impact of AI as it relates to people’s status, that it will reinforce the prestige hierarchy.

When you can’t judge quality that’s precisely the time in which you rely on pedigree.

He goes on to say:

So if you are a college admissions officer, take that problem at a place where a lot of people want to go, it’s really hard to read an essay and say “I’m admitting them because this is an outstanding essay,” if that ever happened. But what you can do is, I’ve heard of the high school, or there is some other status marker in the background, so I’m going to overweight that relative to information that formerly was a signal but it’s just noise.

Writing has been used just about everywhere to evaluate people. Now the capability of crafting well written content is available to everyone. Consequently, we become more reliant on other indicators for evaluation, which, unfortunately, are often characteristics over which people have limited control

This line of thought presents a sobering reality. What was once seen as an equalizer for those lacking inherited advantages potentially turns out to be detrimental to their advancement.