Guest post by Michal “Mehow” Pospieszalski, CEO Matterfi.com
Amid the rise of robotics, drones, and AI in particular, prominent voices have joined the pro-and-contra discussion, with concerns increasingly expressed publicly. “The generative AI market is poised to explode, growing to US$1.3 trillion over the next 10 years from a market size of just $40 billion in 2022, according to a new report by Bloomberg Intelligence. Generative AI describes the use of artificial intelligence to produce texts, images, or videos.
Earlier this year, when the countdown for the U.S. presidential elections was on, the Washington Post reported the New Hampshire Justice Department was investigating robocalls featuring what appeared to be an AI-generated voice that sounded like President Biden. AI destabilizes the concept of truth itself,” the Post quoted Libby Lange, an analyst at the misinformation tracking organization Graphika. Turkish President Erdogan already condemned 10 years ago an audio recording suggesting his alleged involvement in financial wrongdoing which he said was generated by artificial intelligence, Al Jazeera reported in March this year.
Even the Holy Father in Rome joined the discussion. Algorithms are “neither objective nor neutral”, Pope Francis said in mid-June 2024, the official Vatican News Agency reported. But the biggest fear among employees is often only expressed over lunch and an after-work drink: “Will AI take my job?”
Digital Déjà vu
The ongoing public discussions about whether or not AI will transform offices into wastelands remind me a bit of similar discourses in the early 1980s, that era that marked the rise of the home computer.
Parents and teachers were worried students would stop learning. Sociologists warned of unprecedented disruptions for the future of work and “technological unemployment”. The 1986 Hollywood cult movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off e. g. showcases how a high school boy who notoriously feigns illness can misuse the home PC to serve his shenanigans.
Nowadays we know that the companions on desks and their equipment like handy floppy disks, noisy dot matrix printers, and oh-so futuristic looking light pens created in East and West a job boom that lasted until the internet bubble popped in early 2000.
So what about the year 2024 and the disrupted Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)? Will AI replace professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers?
The impact of artificial intelligence on jobs is complex and multifaceted. On one hand, AI can automate repetitive tasks, which may lead to job displacement in certain sectors. For example, manufacturing and data entry roles are particularly vulnerable. On the other hand, AI can also create new jobs, particularly in tech, data analysis, and fields that require human creativity and emotional intelligence.
Moreover, AI can enhance existing roles, allowing workers to focus on higher-level tasks and decision-making. In many cases, technology can increase productivity, potentially leading to economic growth and the creation of new industries.
Overall, the net effect of AI on jobs will depend on how organizations and societies adapt to these changes, invest in retraining, and create new opportunities. It’s likely a mix of both job creation and destruction, with an emphasis on the need for adaptability.
Across the board
Several industries are poised to benefit significantly from artificial intelligence:
- Healthcare: AI can enhance diagnostics, personalize treatment plans, and streamline administrative processes. It also aids in drug discovery and managing patient data. This will help doctors and nurses to treat with more efficiency. Mistakes when treating patients can be reduced thanks to AI.
- Finance: AI is used for risk assessment, fraud detection, algorithmic trading, and personalized financial services, improving efficiency and decision-making. At the end of the day, financial professionals will not be replaced but those investors, fund managers, and controllers who know how to use 4IR will prevail.
- Retail: AI enhances customer experiences through personalized recommendations, inventory management, and demand forecasting, optimizing supply chains. While some cashiers will be replaced by robots new jobs emerge to monitor, supervise, and maintain AI-driven groceries and boutiques.
- Manufacturing: Predictive maintenance, quality control, and automation of production lines can increase efficiency and reduce downtime. This means the education of engineers needs a re-engineering, with 4Ir and AI in particular becoming the main subjects of the new curriculum at any college or university.
- Transportation: AI drives advancements in autonomous vehicles, traffic management, and logistics optimization, improving safety and efficiency. Again, street traffic control rooms cannot be given away completely to robots, but to specialists who know the software and technology behind AI from all angles.
- Marketing and Advertising: AI enables targeted advertising, customer segmentation, and content optimization, helping businesses reach the right audience more effectively. The media industry has of course suffered due to
- Education: Personalized learning experiences, automated grading, and administrative support can enhance educational outcomes and operational efficiency. Robots will never replace the human teacher but the letter can use augmented reality to bring students closer to imagination and scenario thinking than printed lines in a book.
- Agriculture: AI aids in precision farming, crop monitoring, and yield prediction, helping farmers optimize resources and improve productivity.
- Energy: AI improves grid management, predictive maintenance for equipment, and energy consumption forecasting, leading to more efficient energy use. Skilled experts still have to develop and assess the aforementioned technologies hence the sector will continue to require humans
- Telecommunications: AI can enhance network management, predictive maintenance, and customer service, leading to improved reliability and customer satisfaction. AI can help to improve cyber security through self-learning mechanisms, voice recognition, and by storing zillions of biometric data, checking on the latter at stop-watch speed.
All the aforementioned industries, as different as they may look, require one common element, namely leadership. AI-focused leadership brings robotics, drones, IoT, and augmented and immersive technologies forward. He or she will encounter hopes and fears through a proactive dialogue with his or her staff, motivating newbies and experienced workers alike to embrace 4IR instead of shunning the same.
Each of these industries can leverage AI to improve processes, reduce costs, and enhance decision-making, enabling a transformative force across the board.
Ironically, the early 1980s were also marked by high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. Chances are high that history will just repeat itself and we enter a new era of job growth and unprecedented innovation thanks to AI.
