Job Displacement in an Ever Evolving World

Throughout history, the jobs in demand have always shifted. Where there was once a need for a potter or a blacksmith to make china or silverware, there is now a need for engineers to build machines that can mass produce the same products. Job displacement is when there is an economic or structural change that causes a group of workers to lose their jobs. This trend will continue with Artificial Intelligence. In the future, a multitude of fields of work will be replaced by AI.

Who will be replaces first?

Job displacement due to AI is not a question of “if”, but “when”. Even in several McDonald’s Restaurants, many cashiers have been replaced by large kiosks that take the orders of customers. After this wave of replacements, who will be the next to go? According to a blog post about AI causing job displacement by Catherine Dong(2017, May 30) “… considerable job displacement is on the horizon. The first to go? Office workers who perform repetitive tasks.” In other words, Artificial Intelligence’s first crack into the business world is going to be replacing the positions of those who do monotonous work such as traders on Wall Street, call center agents, receptionists, tellers, and customer service representatives.

Is all this displacement such a bad thing?

The elimination of these tedious jobs will enable human beings to spend more time doing creative work. Things that AI cannot do. Although AI may eventually be smarter than humans themselves, there is one thing that AI can never replace. This is the human heart and human creativity.

If AI eventually replaces the majority of jobs, how will anyone get paid?

The elimination of most jobs will result in a few engineers and other select career paths remaining in the work force, but what about everyone else? How will they make money? This new era run by technology will require a new economic system. There must be substantial policy changes including the introduction of a base income. Many economic policies will have to be calculated and must also change with the times as technology gets more and more advanced.

Dong, C. (2017, May 30). Top AI experts think job displacement is inevitable but beneficial, and propose ideas for… Retrieved from https://medium.com/@catz/top-ai-experts-think-job-displacement-is-inevitable-but-beneficial-and-propose-ideas-for-70865742163a