In this article by Ivana Kottasova, she talks about the likelihood of A.I. and robots taking the job market from humans. The robots that we currently have perform mostly manual labor, but experts say as A.I. advances the more skilled jobs will start to disappear as well. She says that a study done by Bank of America stated robots are likely to be performing 45% of manufacturing tasks by 2025 compared to the 10% performed today. In this study they also looked at the falling prices of computers and robots over the past decade and how they will continue to get cheaper over the next decade, and this is one of the main reasons the artificial work force so appealing to employers. Another study done by Oxford University stated that nearly half of all U.S. jobs will be at high risk of being taken over by computers and an additional 20% of the jobs facing medium risk.
Ivana also said another reason why our jobs are becoming more at risk of being taken over by computers is because of the current advances in voice and facial recognition, machine learning, and simply because they are getting easier to use. According to experts, economic inequality will only increase as more jobs are taken by robots. This is not the first time that technology is causing a change in the global economy, just look at the industrial revolution for example, but this time it is much different. Workers will have the choice to take jobs that they are overqualified for or simply stay unemployed. Ivana also wrote another article in late 2015 in which she talked with the chief economist of the Bank of England Andy Haldane, and he said "These machines are different. Unlike in the past, they have the potential to substitute for human brains as well as hands."
Our last debate in class was about whether or not the development of advanced A.I. would be beneficial for humans or not, and these articles only help to provide evidence that it would not help us. When the A.I. that we create becomes more intelligent than we are, who knows how the A.I. will act. We can try to put safeguards in place to make sure we are always the most advanced creatures on the planet, but as we try to evolve programs with genetic algorithms who knows what will remain and what will be taken out. I personally think that advanced A.I. most likely will cause the collapse of our economy and possibly human kind. Once the job market is taken by computers and the economic gap is widened even further, the majority of the population will become poor and out of work. Once that happens I'm not entirely sure what will happen to society. We are trying to create robots to help us complete tasks and make our lives easier, but what happens when we create the A.I. that can do every task that we can do also? At that point what need is there for humanity?
The outlook here sounds rather bleak... if this is indeed true, what should we be doing about it now? Can we take any actions now -- economically, politically, or academically -- in a way that would make the future rosier? Can we mitigate risks? Should we take to the streets and protest all of the A.I. researchers, and demand they stop their research?
ReplyDeleteWell that's where I'm not exactly sure what the right answer is. I do think that having A.I. in the future can benefit humans, but knowing how most people are power/money hungry I don't think we should be trying to mass produce robots to take over the job market. That contradicts itself though, because if we can produce robots to help do tasks for us faster then there will be companies trying to maximize profits and mass produce those robots...so it is a complicated issue.
DeleteI agree... it is a complicated issue. And yet, just because something is a complicated issue doesn't mean that we have the luxury of just ignoring it or giving up on dealing with it. What do other people in the class think?
DeleteI think that as these technologies become more and more prevalent that eventually we will need to have a set of rules/laws to help regulate it.
DeleteI can't think of any jobs that would not be able to be replaced by AI. I really think this would cause the collapse of capitalism, like Stonedahl was talking about after the debate. However, I think this could, if the right people were in charge, lead to a new type of economy and government than what we have ever seen in the past. The real jobs that I think we should focus on for AI would be the dangerous jobs that many people face. Things such as working in mines or construction or factories. However, the question then becomes how do those facing poverty, working those jobs, gain money. I think there would have to be a new economic system in place in order for a system like this to work...
DeleteI think that it might be very possible to mitigate the problems that an automated work force might need. It might inspire people to pursue different kinds of work rather than manual. However, at what point does AI advance to where, say an actuary is put out of a job? I believe that might be a ways away.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a study done a number of years ago, I have to find the exact source for it, but it shines light onto how many new positions are opened yearly. It stated that the top 10 jobs in 2010 didn't exist in 2004. I would say automating a workforce could clearly impede on someone's job, however, I would believe that new positions would be opened to help manage and maintain said work force.
This brings up the point that Dr. Stonedahl made after our debate was over that AI can get so advanced that even the coders could become obsolete. I think at first technology could be helpful, making new positions available but how long til we start making robots to fix technology or code that fixes itself?
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