AI is reshaping the job market in profound ways, offering both opportunities and challenges. But, before we dive into how AI could impact the job market, what is AI?
The concept of AI was first developed in 1950 by a generation of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers. One such person was the young British polymath, Alan Turing, who suggested that humans use available information alongside reason to solve problems and make decisions. If humans could do it, why not machines? This idea was the basis for his paper, ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence.’
AI stands for artificial intelligence, a technology that enables the completion of tasks that would usually require human intelligence; this is done using maths, logic, factual knowledge, and pattern recognition. There are many forms of AI: for example, Narrow AI performs specific tasks and cannot learn beyond its intended purpose, while Superintelligence, which is still being developed, is intended to surpass the knowledge and capabilities of humans. However, in this article, we will focus on Generative AI, which is currently immensely popular. This type of AI can create content, such as images, text, audio, and videos, based on the data it has been trained on. Unlike traditional AI, it can also learn from data and improve over time. Some examples of Generative AI are ChatGPT, made by the company OpenAI, and Gemini, created by Google.
So, how will Generative AI affect the job market? That is the question. Nobody knows for sure which path AI will follow: whether it will create new job opportunities or destroy them.
On one hand, AI is making individuals and organisations more efficient and productive. In fields such as education, medicine, and law, Generative AI could aid humans by creating lesson plans, identifying issues, or even summarising earlier cases in a law court. Moreover, AI could create new jobs and opportunities: before AI, there was no need for programmers and coders specifically suited to developing, testing, and programming AI; now, we need them. Furthermore, AI is less prone to some (but not all) forms of biases than humans, potentially making it useful in decision-making situations.
On the other hand, AI lacks emotion. This means that AI may not grasp crucial parts of complex situations, making it unsuitable for certain roles. Moreover, AI can currently only perform repetitive tasks and activities: even cooking has proven too difficult for AI, as the recipes it generates lack subjective knowledge. This proves that, although AI is still developing, it is nowhere near perfect, and, although AI may replace certain jobs and leave current workers without sources of income, it will not always be better than humans.
An interesting use case for AI is driverless cars. While those working in traditional driving roles like taxi drivers may lose their jobs, there will be a demand for AI engineers, software developers, and data analysts to develop and deploy driverless cars. Those who lose their jobs could be upskilled in AI-related roles or may shift skills completely.
To conclude, there is no way to know for sure whether AI will negatively or positively influence the job market; it is too early to predict this. Personally, I believe that AI will positively affect the job market, as it can assist us with our jobs. I’ll leave you pondering the question: do you think AI will complicate or simplify our lives?
Mirai (MIV)