this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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That first picture is great. That's essentially generative AI, right? You cast out a problem and have it solved multiple times asynchronously, then find the (mean/median/mode) value.
I do wonder how many of those ladies (weird how "computer" was a largely female profession, and then IT quickly became a largely male profession. Not making any commentary here, just kind of a showerthought observation) got laid off because of the computer. I wonder what they did after their jobs were replaced by it, and if that in turn was a net positive for them/their families.
I guess this was right around the peak of the babyboom, so I think I know what they did. And for a while there, it was feasible for a typical family to do well on a single income.
That'd be nice. Maybe next time around we can get it so that families can do well on a single part-time income. Or more gender-equality for who stays home and who works. Hell, I think a lot of families would be happy to be able to do well on two full-time incomes now. But this is getting into the devaluation of human labor now, instead of the evolution of technology.
Many of the female "computers" became programmers. IT being a male profession is a later development, partly fueled by home computers being marketed as toys for boys. It's also mostly a western phenomenon. In former soviet states MINT professions are much closer to a 50:50 split between women and men.