A.I. and What We Are Facing
A.I. Timeline
Before getting to know how A.I. is going to affect future workplaces, we need to be aware of how far it has gone already.
This year, Google launched their conversational application called Duplex, which is an A.I. assistant that is able to make an appointment through the phone. L.A Times evaluated this voice and stated that it sounded almost like human’s voice, and showed no sign that it was not human.
What jobs are most likely going to be replaced soon?
It is estimated that in the next 12 years, 800 million jobs could be replaced by automation in the world (Meyer, 2017). Nationwide, in the U.S, the number is 73 million. The top three jobs which are most at risk are telemarketers, bookkeeping clerks, and compensation managers with over 96% likelihood of being replaced (Bernazzani, 2017). While the above jobs do not surprise the general population whether they are going to be replaced. However, the following jobs might somewhat change your perspective about A.I.
Junior lawyers. While the legal profession is one of the potential career choices, A.I. might turn this career downhill. If hiring a lawyer is costly, there are some certain cases such as speeding/parking tickets or divorce procedure which A.I. can perform with higher accuracy rate.
Financial Analysts. Similar to junior lawyers, financial analysts is traditionally one of the high potential careers but in the business aspect. However, companies choose A.I. over human to trust especially when their money is at higher risk on human’s hands. Simply, human tends to make mistakes and it could cost billion dollars. In addition, A.I. gives better judgment and also works faster.
Chefs. It takes a lot of time to master cooking skills because it is challenging for any chef to maintain the consistent quality of the dishes. Meanwhile, an A.I. chef called Chef Watson is able to create recipes with the embedded functions. Flippy is another robot that prepares meals within a short time which many human chefs struggle with.
The list will continue to be expanded. Briefly, there is a simple rule of thumb. If your job somewhat can be predicted or follows certain patterns, then the risk you are taking is higher. “Think of A.I. as a new paintbrush — albeit one which threatens to paint its own pictures if you’re not careful!” (Dormehl, 2018). In other words, if you are not able to control A.I., it can take control and make decisions on its own without your instruction. In this context, we can easily lose control over A.I if we keep focusing on the development but forget about looking for solutions to manage it.
What companies are using A.I. to operate their businesses?
Currently, not only technology companies are focusing on developing A.I. Other types of non-technology businesses started to use A.I. widely (The Economists, 2018). Ping An, an insurance company is using lie detectors to ensure that their clients tell the truth about their income and repayment plan. Consumer packaged goods manufacturing company like Johnson & Johnson is implementing A.I to go through job applications process and choose the right candidates. Mobile operators like Vodafone uses A.I. to make a prediction about their future network problems in advance before they have the chance to arise.
Bottom Line: It can be foreseen that the job demands for some particular section will be shrunk over the next decades. Obviously, there will be fewer job opportunities, but it does not mean that there is no hope for people working in those fields. The challenge is we need to constantly keep ourselves updated with technology as well as continuously gaining new skills towards the development of A.I.
Bernazzani, S. (2017, June 1). 10 Jobs Artificial Intelligence Will Replace (and 10 That Are Safe). Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/jobs-artificial-intelligence-will-replace
Dormehl, L. (2018, August 11). Replaced by robots: 10 jobs that could be hit hard by the A.I. revolution. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/8-example-of-jobs-automated/
Meyer, D. (2017, November 29). Robots May Steal As Many As 800 Million Jobs in the Next 13 Years. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/11/29/robots-automation-replace-jobs-mckinsey-report-800-million/
Non-tech businesses are beginning to use artificial intelligence at scale. (2018, March 31). Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/special-report/2018/03/31/non-tech-businesses-are-beginning-to-use-artificial-intelligence-at-scale
Pierson, D. (2018, May 10). Retrieved October 03, 2018, from http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-virtual-assistants-20180509-story.html
