With all these new artificial intelligence use cases comes the daunting question of whether machines will force humans into obsolescence. The jury is still out: Some experts vehemently deny that artificial intelligence will automate so many jobs that millions of people find themselves unemployed, while other experts see it as a pressing problem.
“The structure of the workforce is changing, but I don’t think artificial intelligence is essentially replacing jobs,” Rahnama said. “It allows us to really create a knowledge-based economy and leverage that to create better automation for a better form of life. It might be a little bit theoretical, but I think if you have to worry about artificial intelligence and robots replacing our jobs, it’s probably algorithms replacing white-collar jobs such as business analysts, hedge fund managers and lawyers.”
Wilson said the shift toward artificial intelligence-based systems will likely cause the economy to add jobs that facilitate the transition.
“Artificial intelligence will create more wealth than it destroys,” Wilson said, “but it will not be equitably distributed, especially at first. The changes will be subliminally felt and not overt. For example, a tax accountant won’t one day receive a pink slip and meet the robot that is now going to sit at her desk. Rather, the next time the tax accountant applies for a job, it will be a bit harder to find one.”
Wilson said he anticipates that artificial intelligence in the workplace will fragment long-standing workflows, creating many human jobs to integrate those workflows. Other experts, like Husain, are not as sure about where the new jobs will come from once artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous.
“In the past, there were opportunities to move from farming to manufacturing to services,” Husain said. “Now, that’s not the case. Why? Industry has been completely robotized, and we see that automation makes more sense economically.”
Husain pointed to self-driving trucks and artificial intelligence concierges like Siri and Cortana as examples, stating that as these technologies improve, widespread use could eliminate as many as 8 million jobs in the U.S. alone.
Whether rosy or rocky, the future is coming quickly, and artificial intelligence will certainly be a part of it. As this technology develops, the world will see new startups, numerous business applications and consumer uses, as well as the displacement of certain jobs and the creation of entirely new ones. Along with the internet of things, artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically remake the economy, but its exact impact remains to be seen.
Retrieved from: Uzialko, A. C. (2019, April 22). How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Business.
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