How can we prepare ourselves for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? According to Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba, we have to change the way we teach otherwise the future generation will lose their jobs.
Despite the fact AI has a lot of advantages – for instance increase of productivity, lower costs and more precision – we are still concerned about the fact that AI will exceed human intelligence and supplant us as the dominant species on Earth. In the last 200 years, manufacturing brought jobs. (Bundy, 2016) But today, because of AI, manufacturing is no longer the main engine of creating jobs. Products that, for example, were made in China will only be made by the Internet in the future.
Preparation time has started
To benefit from the advances in productivity brought by AI, we will need to reallocate to new types of jobs. If new jobs are not created, workers are likely to remain locked in their previous jobs or become unemployed. (Frey, 2017) According to Jack Ma, the new technology will destroy bunch of jobs, but it will also create plenty of jobs and the service industry will be the largest engine of the job creation. However, the current approach to education is not preparing today’s youth for the realities of tomorrow’s work. We have to teach them to be very, very innovative and very creative. (Ma, 2017)
Adaption will create jobs
In consequence of AI, a distinct wave of job displacement will almost certainly occur. New technologies in areas like AI and robotics will both create some totally new jobs in the digital technology area and, through productivity gains, generate additional wealth and spending that will support additional jobs of existing kinds, primarily in services sectors that are less easy to automate. (Wilson et al., 2017)
In my point of view, the future will be automated excessive, but human interference is still crucial. Humans are the best watchdogs for upholding norms of human values and morals. What do you think the future will look like according to the labour market?
References:
Bundy, A., 2016. Review of “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence”.
Frey, C.B., 2017. The Future of Jobs and Growth: Making the Digital Revolution Work for the Many.
Futurism. (2017). Jack Ma: the way we teach is going to make our kids lose jobs. [online] Available at: https://futurism.com/jack-ma-the-way-we-teach-is-going-to-make-our-kids-lose-jobs/ [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
Horowitz, J. (2017). Jack Ma: We need to stop training our kids for manufacturing jobs. [online] CNNMoney. Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/20/technology/jack-ma-artificial-intelligence-bloomberg-conference/index.html [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
Wilson, H.J., Daugherty, P. & Bianzino, N. 2017, “The Jobs That Artificial Intelligence Will Create”, MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 14-17.