{"id":84809,"date":"2025-08-18T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T10:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=84809"},"modified":"2025-08-14T17:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T21:30:19","slug":"monday-miscellany-8-18-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n
\n
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe\u2019s political controversy over air conditioning.<\/p>\n

\n

The 20 Jobs That Are Safest from AI<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Microsoft conducted an elaborate study<\/a> of what occupations will be the most and the least susceptible to being taken over by AI.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Fortune Magazine<\/a> usefully sorted through the report and identified the 20 jobs with the lowest AI applicability score; that is, are least in danger of replacement.\u00a0 These are listed in ranked order, with #1 having the lowest AI applicability:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  1. Dredge operators<\/li>\n
  2. Bridge and lock tenders<\/li>\n
  3. Water treatment plant and system operators<\/li>\n
  4. Foundry mold and coremakers<\/li>\n
  5. Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators<\/li>\n
  6. Pile driver operators<\/li>\n
  7. Floor sanders and finishers<\/li>\n
  8. Orderlies<\/li>\n
  9. Motorboat operators<\/li>\n
  10. Logging equipment operators<\/li>\n
  11. Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators<\/li>\n
  12. Maids and housekeeping cleaners<\/li>\n
  13. Roustabouts (oil and gas)<\/li>\n
  14. Roofers<\/li>\n
  15. Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators<\/li>\n
  16. Helpers\u2013roofers<\/li>\n
  17. Tire builders<\/li>\n
  18. Surgical assistants<\/li>\n
  19. Massage therapists<\/li>\n
  20. Ophthalmic medical technicians<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Other jobs that look safe include industrial truck and tractor operators, highway maintenance workers, dishwashers, automotive glass installers, embalmers, nursing assistants, and phlebotomists.<\/p>\n

    So not doctors or surgeons or nurses, but nursing and surgical assistants<\/em> will still be necessary to hook you up to the machines.<\/p>\n

    In general, people who work with their hands and backs will still be needed, since AI lacks hands and backs.\u00a0 And some tasks, such as massage and embalming will always require a human touch.<\/p>\n

    Next week:\u00a0 The professions most in danger of being replaced by AI.<\/p>\n

    Why Traffic to the Big Porn Sites Is Plummeting<\/h4>\n

    In the U.S., twenty-four states<\/a> have passed laws that require the presentation of age-verification ID in order to enter an online pornography site.\u00a0 The laws purpose is to prevent minors from accessing porn.\u00a0 They are also preventing quite a few adults from accessing porn.<\/p>\n

    In the states with age-verification laws, a New York University study<\/a> found that traffic to the major free porn sites dropped by 51%.<\/p>\n

    On July 25, Great Britain implemented an age-verification law, the Online Safety Act<\/a>,\u00a0 Since then, UK traffic<\/a> to the major porn sites has dropped 47%.<\/p>\n

    Does that reflect the number of under-18-year-olds who are blocked from the sites?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 I think a large number of adults don\u2019t want to scan their ID, present a credit card, or have their face scanned because even if the information is immediately deleted they don\u2019t want to be identified as using porn.\u00a0\u00a0This is because they still have shame<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    To be sure, as the NYU study shows, the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN ) services, which hide the identity and whereabouts of users, has gone up, as has traffic to off-shore sites that don\u2019t comply with the laws.\u00a0 Mainstream media reports focus on how some people are getting around the law, thus claiming that age-verification laws \u201cdon\u2019t work.\u201d (See here<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

    Of course porn use remains high, and the technologically sophisticated\u2013which includes lots of minors\u2013can still access it.\u00a0 But if the big free sites are losing half their traffic, that is not insignificant.<\/p>\n

    And if the age-verification laws bring back to life an important moral restraint that has seemed all but lost in online anonymity\u2013the faculty of feeling ashamed for doing something wrong\u2013so much the better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Europe\u2019s Political Controversy Over Air Conditioning<\/h4>\n

    A major political issue in Europe:\u00a0 air conditioning.<\/p>\n

    Nearly 90% of U.S. homes are air conditioned.\u00a0 We take that for granted.\u00a0 For us Americans, air conditioning is a summer necessity.<\/p>\n

    But in Europe<\/a>, only 20% of homes have air conditioners.\u00a0 And in some countries, that number is even lower.\u00a0 In the UK, the percentage is only 5%.\u00a0 And nearly all of those are window units, not the central air that keeps Americans cool.\u00a0 In Germany, the percentage is only 3%.\u00a0 And Spain has a law that requires the few places that do have air conditioners to set them no lower than 80.\u00a0 (See this<\/a> for the numbers.)<\/p>\n

    Europe usually has more temperate weather than America, but this summer and the last few summers have been really hot<\/em>!\u00a0 \u00a0People are dying<\/em> from the heat, literally.<\/p>\n

    Yet regulations, building codes, expensive electricity, hard-to-rewire old houses, and environmentalist values have kept people sweltering in their homes.<\/p>\n

    Now much of the public is clamoring for the right to air conditioners.\u00a0 Cool air has become a political issue.<\/p>\n

    In the UK<\/a>, 43% of the public is pro-air conditioning.\u00a0 The maverick Reform Party is making it an issue, with the ruling Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives dithering over it.<\/p>\n

    In France<\/a>, where only 25% of homes have air conditioning, the right-wing parties are using the issue to drum up support.<\/p>\n

    Florida was said to be mostly uninhabitable until air conditioning turned it into a vacation and retirement paradise.\u00a0 Wags have said that the government in the United States started to go downhill when the invention of air conditioning allowed politicians to stay in Washington year round, rather than spending just a few months there like they used to until it got too hot, whereupon Congress adjourned.<\/p>\n

    But surely air conditioning is one of the many things that makes America great!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe’s political controversy over air conditioning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":65538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,15,23,26,37,41,44,48],"tags":[16892,16889,16895,110,6200],"class_list":["post-84809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-economics","category-ethics","category-international","category-law","category-psychology","category-sex","category-technology","category-vocation","tag-age-verification-laws-vs-porn","tag-ai-job-destruction","tag-air-conditioning-in-europe","tag-air-conditioning","tag-anti-pornography-laws"],"yoast_head":"\nMonday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-18T10:00:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T21:30:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2023\/03\/cranach-seal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/\",\"name\":\"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-18T10:00:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-14T21:30:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25","description":"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25","og_description":"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2025-08-18T10:00:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-14T21:30:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":276,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2023\/03\/cranach-seal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/","name":"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-08-18T10:00:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-14T21:30:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"The 20 jobs that are safest from AI.\u00a0 Why traffic to the big porn sites is plummeting.\u00a0 Europe's political controversy over air conditioning.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/08\/monday-miscellany-8-18-25\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monday Miscellany, 8\/18\/25"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}