Ofir Press: claiming tokens replace labor is like saying computers would in 1980
OfirPress · x · 2026-11-11
Princeton researcher Ofir Press argues language modeling is a tool, not magic—extremely capable but comparable to past technological shifts like calculators to PCs and phone lines to the internet.
Saying labor will be replaced by tokens, he writes, is like saying in 1980 that labor would be replaced by computers: computers don't compute on their own, tokens don't token themselves—a human operator remains essential, and he doesn't see that changing within 4 years.
More from AGI Musings
- All six AI 2027 authors now forecast superhuman AI researchers arriving in 2027 — Tinac4 · 2026-11-11
- AI agents cut resources to break ECDSA signatures by 90%, beating Google's estimate — IgorCarron · 2026-11-11
- Stanford scholars launch nonprofit STABL to build societal resilience against advanced AI — RishiBommasani · 2026-11-11
- Mercor raises $750M at $20B valuation as expert payouts hit $5M a day — ccerrato147 · 2026-11-11
- METR report: AI-driven R&D acceleration puts recursive self-improvement within reach by 2027 — birchlse · 2026-11-11
- "Retrofitting electricity to coal-powered factories": one line on AI's institutional mismatch — curious_vii · 2026-11-11