Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a common topic of discussion in most occupation circles. We’ve heard many negatives and dire predictions about possible and probably job losses, but the facts are few and not easy to understand. Pierce Ivory, Marketing Director at Advance Systems, explains how artificial intelligence will affect our careers, our work, and our economic outcomes
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a common topic of discussion in most occupation circles. We’ve heard many negatives and dire predictions about possible and probably job losses, but the facts are few and not easy to understand. Pierce Ivory, Marketing Director at Advance Systems, explains how artificial intelligence will affect our careers, our work, and our economic outcomes
Your Opinion? Doesn’t Really Matter
Most of us have opinions as to whether Artificial Intelligence(AI) will ‘’make or break’’ us. This is especially true in the tech and policy arenas.
One side of the opinions declares that many or most of us will be out of jobs when Artificial Intelligence becomes smart enough to take over jobs.
The second side opinion declares that Artificial Intelligence will likely do away with many of the boring, redundant jobs since AI will be able to do those jobs much quicker, eliminate mistakes and ultimately save companies money through lack of salaries and benefits.
What’s your opinion? Know what? It really doesn’t matter. Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and will be used by companies. This leaves many employees with difficult decisions to make about their future and their careers.
The Future is Near
Artificial Intelligence is quickly changing the ‘’future of work,’’ and it will eliminate many aspects of most jobs. Even worse, as AI becomes more sophisticated, it will be able to overtake many of the difficult jobs.
Our ‘’future of work’’ can also be interpreted as meaning ‘’new and innovative ways of working’’ must be created and established since AI will be overtaking many of our current positions.
Could AI Train Humans?
One unique idea that has been circling innovative ideas is utilizing AI’s abilities to train humans. Is this really possible? Yes, it’s similar to many of the AI aids we now use, such as Google Maps. And, it’s possible that Artificial Intelligence could train humans. Why not take advantage of AI’s abilities since they are eliminating many of our human jobs? The training that AI can provide will result in humans learning more difficult and creative jobs.
A few companies are now on the path of making cloud-based training programs possible. They have done this by simply gathering massive amounts of data on one subject and categorized the data so that the data becomes a training tool.
This AI training is not done in a room with other students but is one that ‘’listens in’’ on conversations, such as sales and make recommendations to the ‘’student’’ about better words to use, suggests alternate tasks and makes other recommendation that will make sales more likely.
Is our future of work as humans making this training critical? Yes. Artificial intelligence will likely be able to do almost all current jobs at some future point. The key to success as a human employee will be to have the skills that Artificial Intelligence has not yet conquered.
Artificial Intelligence Will Be Beneficial
There are many good points to Artificial Intelligence. Software startup expert Steve Ardire believes Artificial Intelligence will redesign the way organizations function. He says, “Human capital will start to shift from mundane tasks and transactions to higher-order and creative work. Along the way, we will see massive businesses where the technology transforms specific job functions.”
It’s important to remember that Artificial Intelligence does not have creative abilities and humans do. Many humans are very capable of creating and imagining many topics. According to Ardire, Artificial Intelligence will be about “people and machines working alongside each other to improve the way they work.”
If AI can work faster than humans and make fewer errors, it stands to reason that it will also help business growth. The world currently needs something to propel economic growth and Artificial Intelligence may be the answer. A very positive overall point is that AI will change how work is done while it also will help drive the knowledge level of humans in business.
Accenture believes that ‘’artificial intelligence could double annual economic growth rates in 2035 by changing the nature of work and creating a new relationship between man and machine. This new relationship between man and machines could potentially impact businesses that results in increased labor productivity by up to 40 percent.’’
A significant portion of this increase is because people will be more efficient and need less time to create their work. Futurists believe that mundane tasks will be worked by artificial intelligence technologies and human will do what AI cannot do: imagine, create and innovate.
Even though artificial intelligence will make some work outdated, there are many possible advantages for an improved economy. The end result will be the creation of more profitability for companies that can then increase wages for humans.
Artificial Intelligence Will Not Takeover an Entire Occupation
Better yet, artificial intelligence will seldom capture an entire occupation. There will be certain tasks that artificial intelligence can do quicker and better than humans, but most jobs will still need some human activities. In reality, business processes will be modified, and human jobs will be recharacterized.
Entire occupations will not be replaced by artificial intelligence, but it is likely that all occupations will be affected by AI. McKinsey Global Institute’s research predicts that 45% of human work activities could be replaced by automation. All occupations, including the most sophisticated, such as executives, physicians, and financial experts, now perform tasks and activities that could be done by artificial intelligence.
All companies in all industries should expect to re-evaluate all jobs and all processes that could be assisted by artificial intelligence. **Companies must take advantage of the potential improvements AI can provide. And, the advantages are much more than the money saved by utilizing artificial intelligence**. The benefits expected included increased production, with higher quality and better-quality reliability. Additionally, AI can perform tasks easily at extraordinarily high levels, while performing significantly below human labor costs. As a result, **movement of artificial intelligence into portions of most human jobs will become standard and those companies who can utilize the greatest amounts of AI will become the most profitable**.
Ultimately, artificial intelligence will become an important viable differentiator. Those companies who automate activities needed within industries and occupations and redefine the roles and process of each will be the most successful and profitable. And, those humans who are given opportunities to learn the more sophisticated skills that AI cannot learn, will be the most likely to move upwards quicker than artificial intelligence can learn to be more human.
