Mia
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have changed the way we capture and process information which has, in turn, led to disruptive technologies being developed in different market segments. We are talking about such technologies as self-driving cars, chatbots, voice and facial recognition, disease detection, prevention and customized patient treatment plans.
The entertainment industry has also evolved pretty fast, thanks to AI and ML. Looking at the gambling industry, for example, the most advanced in Canada casino online platforms are switching to chatbots for customer support to facilitate instant responses whenever players need assistance. Only when your problem isn’t solved to your satisfaction will you be transferred to human support agents. Further, by incorporating AI and ML into their operations, online casinos make it so much easier for players to find their favoured games. For instance, if you like to play roulette online, the online casino leverages AI and ML and seamlessly suggests a couple of titles based on your viewing history.
The fact is that both AI and ML have made a significant impact on the way we experience our world today, and we can only expect more as futurists dream up more ways to solve problems and improve the quality of life.
AI and ML Could Wipe Out Nearly Half of All Jobs in 2 Decades
There is a growing concern that if AI keeps improving, pretty soon, it is going to replace much of the human workforce. In fact, a 2013 study on ‘The Future of Employment’ by Carl B. Frey and Michael Osborne of Oxford University concluded that in a decade or two, it would be possible for 47% of all jobs to be partially or fully done by machines.
This is quite alarming, and it has caused an outcry amongst people in specific fields of work who are concerned that most, if not all of the workforce, stand to lose out because of machines. When you observe the current career choices made by the younger generation, they are already getting ready for the upcoming revolution.
Augmentation or Replacement?
Before you go into panic mode, you need to consider the exact implications of AI and ML to your chosen line of work. While it’s only a matter of time before some jobs completely disappear, there is a different perspective to the issue that AI raises about the future of the job market. This is intelligence augmentation which is the use of AI and ML to assist professionals in making well-informed decisions based on an accurate and faster analysis of Big Data.
AI and ML models can be made to predict patterns in record time as compared to humans. This has been instrumental in the medical research industry, pharmaceutical and other fields and has enabled professionals to catch errors or medical defects faster, hence saving lives or company resources.
Just like before the industrial revolution, there are some tasks currently performed by humans that machines are better placed to effectively carry out in a fraction of the time. It’s therefore inevitable that AI and ML will entirely take over a lot of jobs. Still, before turning our backs on it altogether, we need to realize that there are some things that the complexity of the human thought process cannot be replicated.
For example, although machines have been able to analyze big pools of data in the shortest time ever imagined, this information may be useless if there is no clear direction as to how it’s going to be handled. The concept of IA is that AI can be used to make humans smarter, thereby making them better equipped to perform their given jobs. The human-AI interaction is vital in propelling us into a sustainable future that all will benefit from.
What the Future Holds
As we dive deeper into the Digital Age, the future holds more possibilities than would ever have been imagined decades ago. For some, the opportunities that lie ahead are endless and exciting, but for others, it’s uncertain. While we may not be looking at some sort of Luddite movement any time soon, the speculations surrounding the topic are running wild. It’s becoming increasingly difficult not to wonder if AI and ML pose a severe threat to the livelihoods of hundreds of millions in the labour force.
As Alibaba founder Jack Ma stated in a CNBC interview, “The next 30 years are going to be painful”. Does this mean that robots are going to replace humans and render human labour completely irrelevant? Absolutely not! Similar to any major revolution in the history of humankind, the first few years are always filled with uncertainty, but humans have always figured out a way to adapt and move forward as a much more advantaged society. Besides, the attitude towards conventional jobs is changing – this is where the key to how humans and machines will work together lies.
