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»Vi kommer att leva som aristokrater«
På universitetet i Oxford finns en världsauktoritet på artificiell intelligens. Nick Boström, filosof, ser både risker och möjligheter med utvecklingen.
Hur tror du att AI kommer att påverka världen?
– I ett kort perspektiv övervägande positivt, men om ett, två decennier eller hundra år – när maskinerna kommer att vara lika intelligenta som människorna – finns det risker.
Läs mer: Beredd? Här kommer AI
Kan verkligen maskiner ersätta människor?
– Ja, men vi vill ju ha politiker och präster av kött och blod och vi vill inte ha robotar som tävlar i OS.
Leder AI till att jobben försvinner?
– Ja, men nya kommer till tack vare ny teknik. Än har AI inte haft någon större påverkan på arbetsmarknaden, den är bara ett tillägg till all annan automation. Men långsiktigt kommer allt mänskligt arbete att kunna göras av maskiner.
Vad säger du om historikern Yuval Noah Hararis påstående att AI kommer att skapa ”the useless class”, oanvändbara människor?
– Att vi kan göra samma saker med mindre arbetsinsats skapar utmaningar för människan, vissa måste kanske hitta nya sätt att försörja sig på. Men det handlar också om att hitta ett nytt sätt att se på sig själv, att inte bara se sitt värde kopplat till ett jobb. I kapitalistsamhället får man sitt värde som människa och medborgare genom att generera pengar. Det här synsättet måste vi omvärdera.
Hur ska man se på sig själv utan jobb?
– Kanske måste vi leva lite som aristokratin förr: leva på räntor, utveckla hobbyer, spela spel, handarbeta, hålla på med konst och konversation. Tänk på barn och äldre – de genererar inget ekonomiskt värde men kan ha ett lyckligt liv ändå.
Är det ett lite sorgligt framtidsperspektiv?
– Det är viktigare att ett jobb är givande och intressant än att det blir gjort!
Forskaren: "Maskinerna blir inte smartare än vi"
Text: Cajsa Högberg
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No guaranteed wages in Northvolt's US reconstruction
Northvolt's financial troubles continue. Now, the battery manufacturer's hopes rest on a reconstruction in the USA. However, the process means that the state guaranteed wages – lönegaranti – will not apply to Union members.
The clock is ticking for the struggling battery manufacturer Northvolt. During the autumn, debts have piled up with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and recently several of the company's major shareholders withdrew from negotiations for new financing. Since its inception in 2015, Northvolt has raised SEK 110 billion, but now the money is almost gone. According to CEO Peter Carlsson, they need to raise just over SEK 10 billion in the coming year, but so far the search for new financing has been fruitless.
Maintaining control with Chapter 11
Therefore, Northvolt has now taken the next step to save the company. The management has applied for a so-called Chapter 11 procedure, a type of reconstruction process in the USA that was recently used by the airline SAS. One possible explanation for the battery manufacturer turning to an American court is that it is considered doubtful that Northvolt would be granted a Swedish reconstruction, as it requires the company to be fundamentally viable. Another advantage of Chapter 11 is that the management is likely to retain control over the company.
No guaranteed wages for employees
However, there is a downside – for the employees. In an American process, Northvolt's employees will not be able to benefit from the Swedish state guaranteed wages - lönegaranti - according to several legal experts contacted by Kollega.
– The Swedish state does not pay any guaranteed wages if the company has not initiated a reconstruction or bankruptcy in Sweden. If Northvolt only initiates a Chapter 11 procedure in the USA, all the company's obligations to employees in Sweden to pay wages and other compensation according to the employment contract remain, says Hans Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Association of Restructuring and Bankruptcy Administrators.
If Union members at Northvolt do not receive their wages, the union can, however, request the company to be declared bankrupt in a Swedish court.
– If Northvolt does not pay wages on time, the employee or the union can collect the wages through the Enforcement Authority and ultimately request that the company be declared bankrupt if the wages are not settled, explains Hans Andersson.
Unionen: "Will collect unpaid wages"
Filip Vujcic, a union lawyer at Unionen, also assesses that members cannot benefit from the state guaranteed wages when a corporate reconstruction is initiated in the USA.
– This means that Unionen, in the event of future unpaid wages, needs to safeguard its members' rights through wage collection. According to Swedish bankruptcy rules, a corporate reconstruction in the USA does not prevent a member's bankruptcy application from being examined in a Swedish court, he says.
Will Unionen request Northvolt to be declared bankrupt if members do not receive their wages?
– Unionen does not comment on that question at this time.
*In wage collection, Unionen usually sends a demand letter to the employer, who has seven days to pay the wages. If the wages are still not paid, the employer receives a payment order via service. If that does not help either, Unionen sends a bankruptcy application to the district court.
This text has been translated with the help of AI.
CHAPTER 11
- American reconstruction process aimed at giving a company a chance to continue with all or parts of its operations. Normally, no administrator is appointed, and the debtor continues to run the business themselves.
- The company must present a plan that must be approved by the court. The plan aims to determine which debts the debtor should pay and which debts should be written off. The plan also provides the opportunity to terminate unfavorable contracts and reorganize the business so that it can continue to operate profitably.
- One advantage of turning to a court in the USA instead of using the Swedish reconstruction process is that a Chapter 11 has an impact in several countries. If a group has companies in different countries, they are all drawn under the same process instead of carrying it out in each country and risking different outcomes.
