AI and Job Destruction: Is AI the Downfall of the Downtrodden, or Defender of the Destitute?

Both startups and large companies alike have been paying close attention to, and investing heavily in, artificial intelligence (AI). AI shows tremendous promise to improve the quality and efficiency of many business functions, but with this proficiency comes the concern that AI will be taking away our jobs. In the previous blogpost, we explored what sorts of tasks AI excels at, and thus what jobs are most likely to be affected by the AI revolution. In this post we will be examining the worry that some have over job destruction from AI disproportionately affecting the economically disadvantaged. This concern is well-founded, and thus close attention should be paid to it, but it should be mentioned that AI is poised to also be of great assistance to the economically disadvantaged. Let’s start by taking a look at the issue of distribution.

Concerns over mis-distributed destruction

As was mentioned above, the jobs consisting almost entirely of simple, monotonous, and relatively unsophisticated tasks are most in danger of being destroyed by AI. Given this, there is some concern that the job destruction from AI will occur in an unfairly distributed fashion. In other words, the least well off will be the ones to suffer from this AI revolution, while the most well off will be the ones to benefit. This is certainly an important area of concern, and numerous individuals and agencies are keeping their eye on this. One such group is AI Now, which provided the following summary for the White House. Given the breadth and pervasive nature of this change, it is likely that some governmental regulation or intervention will be necessary in order to help facilitate these sorts of developments.

But notice that there are two sides to this coin. AI may differentially disadvantage the least well off, but it is also likely to be a great tool helping assist numerous underserved populations. For instance, take the recent startup Visabot, which utilizes AI to help the individuals struggling through the arduous journey to citizenship, and who often cannot afford an attorney or advisor to help them along that path. Looking beyond our own borders, AI also seems well poised to help those in great need, such as by predicting hunger crises or identifying unknown slavery sites via aerial photographs.

So is AI a threat to the least advantaged, or it’s deliverer? Perhaps it’s both. AI’s implementation is certainly a complex problem with a variety of intricacies that need to be observed and properly dealt with in order to prevent abuses of the vulnerable and defenseless. But with appropriate oversight and regulation, AI has the power to do worlds of good for the needy and well-off alike.

Coming up next

In the next post, we will examine whether the alleged antipathy between AI and humans fearing for their jobs is merited. We’ll take a look at the interesting new phenomenon of co-bots. They serve as a useful analogy for how humans and AI can not only get along, but thrive together.