Telephone operation was a good career for women. Then it got automated.

How automation wiped out a whole career for young women — and how young women adapted.

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Have a feeling we’ll see a lot more “and then it got automated”
- Which is all bs. Why should unnecessary jobs exist?
  
  Sure. Except the wealth and productivity increases will not benefit society but the few wealthy capitalists that own it
  
  “We had authors and artists, but AI is so much more efficient they’re unnecessary.”
  
  LLMs are coming for artistic and creative functions first. Is human creativity and artistry unnecessary?
  
  Historically automation was on rote/repetitive tasks. This is a bit different.
So, racism, misogyny, radical christian nationalism. Got it.

"The company refused to hire Black operators until 1944, immigrants rarely got hired, and some exchanges barred Jewish women too. But for white, gentile, American-born women, especially young and unmarried women (as women often left the labor force after marriage, and married women faced discrimination in hiring), connecting calls at the switchboard was a common way to make a living."
A great reminder that to do things “for jobs” is always a terrible argument.

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