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Tag: AI

  • Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Most Jobs

    Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Most Jobs

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a ubiquitous term, woven into the fabric of our daily lives. From the moment we wake up to a smart alarm on an AI-powered phone to the personalized recommendations on our favorite streaming service, AI’s influence is undeniable. But perhaps the most significant question surrounding AI is its impact on the future of work. Will AI replace most jobs, leaving a swathe of unemployment in its wake, or will it create new opportunities and reshape the way we work?

    This article delves into this complex topic, exploring the potential of AI to automate tasks, analyzing the jobs most at risk, and examining how humans can adapt and thrive in an AI-powered future.

    The Automation Revolution: A Historical Perspective

    Concerns about AI replacing human workers aren’t entirely new. The Industrial Revolution saw the rise of machines that drastically transformed manufacturing, displacing many manual laborers. However, history also demonstrates that technological advancements create new jobs even as they automate existing ones. The Industrial Revolution birthed new industries and professions like factory management, engineering, and maintenance.

    The key lies in understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI. While AI excels at tasks requiring pattern recognition, data analysis, and repetitive execution, it struggles with tasks requiring creativity, empathy, critical thinking, and social intelligence – all quintessentially human traits.

    AI’s Capabilities and the Rise of Automation

    AI’s capabilities are constantly evolving, but here’s a snapshot of what it can currently do well:

    • Data Analysis and Automation: AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, predict trends, and automate routine tasks. This can revolutionize data-driven fields like finance, healthcare, and marketing.
    • Machine Learning and Decision-Making: AI can learn from data and make decisions with varying degrees of autonomy. This might involve tasks like loan approvals, customer service interactions, or stock market predictions.
    • Robotics and Physical Tasks: We’ve seen remarkable advancements in robotics, with AI-powered robots performing complex tasks in manufacturing, logistics, and even surgery.

    These capabilities make AI a prime candidate for automating tasks in various industries. Jobs heavily reliant on routine, repetitive tasks, data processing, and following algorithms are most susceptible. Here are some specific examples:

    • Manufacturing and Assembly Line Workers: Robots can efficiently handle assembly line tasks, reducing the need for human labor.
    • Data Entry Clerks and Administrative Assistants: AI can automatically process documents, extract data, and schedule appointments, potentially replacing these roles.
    • Truck Drivers and Taxi Drivers: Self-driving vehicles pose a significant threat to these professions, though regulations and safety concerns still need to be addressed.
    • Telemarketers and Customer Service Representatives: AI-powered chatbots can handle routine customer inquiries, potentially replacing some service representatives.

    Beyond Automation: The Rise of Human-AI Collaboration

    The picture isn’t entirely bleak. AI isn’t here to completely replace humans; rather, it’s poised to usher in an era of human-AI collaboration. Let’s explore some ways this might play out:

    • Augmenting Human Abilities: AI can compliment human skills. Imagine doctors using AI-powered diagnostic tools or architects using AI to design buildings. AI can free humans from tedious tasks, allowing them to focus on creativity, innovation, and complex problem-solving.
    • Emerging Job Markets: AI will undoubtedly create new jobs, some of which we can’t even imagine yet. These might involve developing, maintaining, and overseeing AI systems, or specializing in the ethical and legal implications of AI.
    • Reskilling and Re-education: As jobs evolve, there will be a growing need for reskilling and re-education. Focus on critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and other distinctly human skills will be crucial for navigating an AI-powered future.

    Navigating the AI Revolution: A Call for Action

    The rise of AI presents both challenges and opportunities. Here’s what we can do to prepare and adapt:

    • Investing in Education and Training: Governments and educational institutions need to prioritize education that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability. Programs for reskilling and retraining the workforce should be readily available.
    • Promoting Lifelong Learning: As technology evolves rapidly, lifelong learning will be essential. Individuals need to be equipped with the ability to learn new skills and adapt to changing work environments throughout their careers.
    • Ethical Considerations: As AI becomes more sophisticated, ethical considerations like bias in algorithms and job displacement need to be addressed through regulations and ethical frameworks.
    • Social Safety Nets: We need to have robust social safety nets in place to support those who might lose their jobs due to automation.

  • The skills of the future (Part 3): What is going to change the future of the world, “even more than electricity”?

    The skills of the future (Part 3): What is going to change the future of the world, “even more than electricity”?

    Last night a friend rushed to tell me about a news segment she’d just seen on a Sunday news program called “60 Minutes” which broadcasts across America every Sunday evening. It was about amazing opportunities in what is broadly known as Artificial Intelligence or “AI”. Part of the show featured a Chinese techpreneur and venture capitalist called Kai-Fu Lee who said he believed AI would “change the world more than anything in the history of mankind, even more than electricity…” 

    Let’s talk! 

    Mr Lee went on to explain what one AI business called Face++ (not related to Facebook) could do. Maybe some of you have heard about it. If not, look it up. (My team did some quick research and discovered last night’s “60 Minutes” show was a re-run from earlier in 2019 so I’ll share the full transcripts with you below).

    On the show, Mr Lee said something I agree with, and I want you to focus on the opportunity here, not the threat: “Today artificial intelligence is not as good as you hope, and not as bad as you fear…” 

    He told the 60 Minutes interviewer that his venture capital firm has already funded more than 50 AI start-ups with about 10 $1bn start-ups, including a few $10bn dollar companies…Wow! (You can Google yourself what he did before being a VC!)

    What do you see?

    Senior class, do your homework on “Deep learning” and share some feedback here. Try not to make it too complicated. 

    __How is deep learning already being used in the world? I will give you one hint: It is a key technology behind “driverless cars.”

    This may sound like #SuperSenior class subject matter, but this is an opportunity for many to jump ahead of the pack and some of you eventually to join the ranks of those billionaires Mr Lee referred to in his interview, no doubt led by techpreneurs who did not panic or get fearful of emerging “disruptive” technologies but rather… you fill in the rest.

    You might still be very young and that’s great. You know many programmers are self-taught so don’t start saying this or that is not available to you to study. You can get yourself started at a Coding School like Muzinda Hub that I wrote about last week. It’s a new world out there!

    Whoever we are, chances are we need to re-skill as I’ve written before, because technology is moving fast. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway, all over the world…

    That’s one reason why this same story about AI featured twice in the past several months on one of America’s top news programs! AI will definitely change the way people live and work, all over the world. Who can give me a list of five changes you’ve noticed? Don’t get left behind.

    “What skills do I need?” you might ask. Good question. We started the series talking about coding and some other critical thinking skills. Coding is rather like learning the alphabet and how to spell in different languages, or creating a recipe that tells a computer what to do. Now many of you are ready to go to the next level.

    A few questions to get you started on this new skill of the future:

    # What is “machine learning”?
    # What is “deep learning”?
    # What is the difference between “deep learning” and “machine learning”?
    # Why is access to high quality data so important in machine learning and deep learning?
    # Why is the field of “data science” so exciting?

    This AI is deep stuff. You have to know about it. Just get yourself started to learn more about it now, if you haven’t already, including taking online courses.

    It’s one of those revolutionary changes in the world that require a mindset change, not just as an entrepreneur, but as a parent and policymaker, too.

    Let us not waste time debating “if or when,” let’s get to how and now!

    I’ll tell you more about another of our ventures in this space in my next post.

    To be continued. . .

    Image credit: Nigerian robotics engineer, Silas Adenkule. From the Facebook page of the company he co-founded, Reach Robotics.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/01/25/meet-the-young-robotics-entrepreneur-who-got-a-dream-deal-with-apple/