By Rachit Jain, CEO Youth4work
“We marvelled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to…A.I.,” explains Morpheus, how humans managed to make their approaching doom inevitable at the hands of artificial technology, to the protagonist of the movie “Matrix”, who happens to be the one, Neo, who will end the reign of machines which have enslaved whatever that is left of human race. Interestingly, people in the real world also see Artificial Intelligence in the same light. Although, AI taking control of the human civilization is least bit palpable but let’s say if it were somehow perceivable, then the climax wouldn’t be as dramatic as in the movie.
Will AI and Robots will eliminate all the jobs?
People, however, do fear that AIand Robots will eliminate all the jobs eventually, which is truly not true! It’s like saying that manufacturing more medicines will end the requirement for doctors. Same kind of futile brouhaha was created when it was believed that the adoption of computers at workplaces will reduce human engagement. People don’t whine and cry over losing their jobs, but because of the fact that they will have to change themselves in order to stay relevant in the shifting scenario of job markets.
AI and Data Science are bound to bring wide-ranging changes in numerous dimensions, so skills needed to fit those job descriptions will change. People with obsolete skill sets will either upgrade or advocate reasons to reject the idea. And after getting tired, the same people will, in time, get into the swing of it, not due to compulsion but because of requirement and utility. Bursts of oppressions were witnessed throughout the history of innovations in mankind; as in case of the industrial revolution for putting individual craftsmen out of business, television for being an idiot box, internet for being a place of malicious malwares, scams and pornography, smart phones for making people dumber and now AI. It seems like history is on the course of repeating itself, yet again.
The general perception is wrong. AI will actually create more jobs instead of downsizing. But it will make a number of tasks obsolete, which means that these tasks could be performed with the joint cooperation of humans and AI. Back in 2017, a research conducted by Gartner revealed that 1.8 million jobs will be eliminated by 2020, but 2.3 million new jobs will also be created by then. Furthermore, computer game company ‘Nvidia’ is making breakthroughs with various projects of AI application into fields like, medicine, agriculture and education by using intricate Neural Network layers within Deep Learning domain of AI to improve Machine Learning.
How is advancements in technology helping us?
Advancements in technology helps us in making better decisions and that is why automation of some jobs will probably prove to be in the best interest of everyone, especially hazardous jobs like mining, drilling oil from the bottom of oceans or putting out forest fires. In the years to come, newer jobs will be created in even newer ‘undiscovered’ markets and not all these jobs will be purely technical in nature involving Data Science but applications of AI augmentation will create separate entry level positions along with middle level and top level.
Moreover, application of AI into everyday routines will optimize regular tasks by improving overall methods of performances. For instance, imagine an irrigation system supervised by AI that estimates the frequency and amount of water to be released for different fields of crops. It will not only put a stop to wastage of water but also improve the quality of that particular season’s yield. Similarly, car engines can be made more fuel efficient. Diesel engines have energy efficiency of up to 41% but more typically 30%, and petrol engines of up to 37.3%, but more typically 20%. This means there is a great scope for making optimal usage of fuel in vehicles by using AI to improve design and various other specs that determine fuel consumption.
A stitch in time saves nine
If we talk of efficiency, then it should be understood that it is nowhere optimal in any area, be it construction of roads or buildings, crop harvesting, city planning, or government projects that take months and years to be complete. A stitch in time saves nine, by this sense, now is the best time to get involved with AI when concepts of Narrow AI are being made a reality and tremendous research is being done to implement General AI. Algorithms are already making movie recommendations, clearing spam mails, taking appointments, counting our steps and monitoring heartbeat while walking and there still remains room for a lot more.