Is AI Putting Jobs In A Spot Of Bother?

Robots are omnipresent. They have completely remodeled the industrial production, with food production units and restaurant kitchens on the latest agenda. Artificial intelligence machines are already managing various tasks related to judgement and learning; self-driven cars, stock commerce, accounting, and health related tasks to name a few. So, is it a boon or a bane?

Considering the positive forces first, this increased automation would provide numerous employment opportunities. This can be dated back in history when people feared the automobile revolution would render people jobless, but with the engine and other complexities of manufacture and maintenance needing human effort, the number of jobs has actually increased. Not only automobiles, the combustion engine soon found good use in mining and aircrafts too, thus increasing the scope of employability in other fields as well.

Nevertheless, the distinction remains that today’s AI aims not only to increase industrial efficiency but replace the thinking part of homo sapiens. According to a 2017 report by McKinsey on the impact of automation on jobs, it is estimated that almost half of the total jobs and skills are fully automable and are already tested or applied effectively. It also says that a minimum of one-third of the activities overall may be machine-driven which might impact around 800 million employees in the next 11 years thus possessing a greater challenge than the historic shifts.

The impact of AI on society cannot be based just on the productivity stats. With better education and resources now, civilizations desire employment. Besides maintaining a livelihood, emotional well-being is necessary too. Analysis suggests that if AI reaches a stage when it starts pink-slipping the employees, it will have effects on the social well-being. Even with the secured minimum financial income that has been planned by the leading economists to minimize the effects would not suffice.

Looking at the current scenario, the restaurant industry is already under the influence of AI with many of its aspects covered, consequently putting pressure on the jobs of food sector employees. Self-driving cars are already here; but the biggest challenge they still face is gaining the trust of the people. Still, some firms have already received permits to test this technology. Following suit, General Motors claims to be all set for mass production of self-driving cars.

That means the truck drivers, brokers and accountants seemingly becoming redundant. On the contrary, the most impressive impact has been on the education sector. Considering the challenges of offline courses and maintenance costs of the campuses with huge infrastructures, Professor Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School suggests that 50% of the colleges within the US can shut down in the next 20 years.

One method of facing this challenge is to retrain the existing workforce. While only a few people need to know how the systems within a robot work, it is necessary for more people to be able to interpret sensor readings and error messages.

Increasing automation at factories is quickly replacing employees at factories, even in low-wage countries like China. With robots and AI machines doing most of the work, the demand for specialised coaching associated with the tasks where humans are made redundant can go down. There would still be a need of engineers, however not as much as within the past.

In this age of advancement where migrations have become a common norm and these migrants finding jobs they are not skilled for, the risk of becoming unemployed increases manifold. Societies should be ready to retrain and educate according to the requirements.

There also has been an ideology of regulating the artificial intelligence machines. But with the competitive spirit among the nations, it is difficult to control development. However its momentum and usage rests in our hands.

Share

Share

Share