AI Taking Over Jobs and Debunking the Surreal

“We are talking about a technology which has evolved over a century, surpassing us, humans who have evolved over thousands of years. It simply doesn’t make sense.”

Artificial Intelligence or AI, has become a hot buzzword on the internet and the world in general. Some are obsessed with the technological advancements it has brought, and the rest are in a frenzy about how it affects their present walk of life.

In a world meant to endeavour, netizens are constantly worrying about losing their jobs. With that said and keeping in mind the pros and cons of this technological advancement, I would like to share my thoughts on ‘How AI will affect our jobs’ based on the multiple discussions I have had with various business individuals, techies, techpreneurs and my perspective of the entire scenario prevailing around the globe.

The answer to this bewilderment in a line is “There is nothing to fear about this so long as you possess an attitude to adapt to the changing environment”. Now, let us comprehend each aspect of this puzzle in the following article.

Why the agitation around AI? 

With Artificial Intelligence having the ability and capacity to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy, AI can do tasks which are repetitive, which follow a certain pattern and can act as a brain with unlimited access to information. (source: An IBM 'Think' article)

Hence, Artificial Intelligence can write code snippets and debug code on a smaller scale. It can act as a brainstormer. It can undertake jobs of an administrative nature like data entry, data management and other jobs of a similar nature.(source: Which Jobs Will AI Replace? - Coursera)

With this fundamental understanding of how this AI thing is perceived to be a threat to jobs, now let's contemplate whether we should fear it. 

Should We Fear Losing Our Jobs?

Not at all!! The public needs to relax and stop fretting about this. Artificial Intelligence is yet another technological advancement, just as computers were in the 20th Century. Fast forward to this date, are we all jobless? No. In contrast to it, the technological advancement of computers has led to an expansion in the spectrum of job opportunities, including article writing, through which I am able to express my thoughts to you in no time.

What makes this frenzy even worse is the uncertainty of the future, with no certain experience as to what the right thing to do is.

Who Shall Benefit Out of Your Fear? 

The fear instilled in the general population is nothing but a fear-driven marketing executed by AI-based corporates as well as influencers who are exploiting the alarming emotions within you, owing to this uncertain scenario, with a vague understanding of what’s to be done next.

Should One Completely Ignore AI?

The answer is again, absolutely NO! The reason behind my rant in the preceding article is to make you understand the bigger picture and assure you to stop living in dread. However, I do not intend to convince you to be a Luddite (i.e, a person opposed to new technology or ways of working). 

Every technological advancement has contributed to creating new job opportunities, and hence, with little effort and time spent on learning and understanding this technology patiently, one can yield better career success. 

For instance, A software engineer with considerable efforts in other disciplines like statistics and mathematics can become an AI engineer. A writer can use AI tools to optimise efficiency in their writing.

On the other hand, it is also absolutely true to say that complacency and reluctance towards change in this tumultuous situation will cost a person a lot more than ever.

I believe that the only question that should chew our cud is “how can I upskill myself to sustain in this wave of turbulence?”, rather than dwelling on “Will AI take over my job?”

Conclusion: 

From a philosophical standpoint, AI has made humankind realise the reality that nothing is certain about the future, a reality which we have often ignored because of the security and stability provided by systems, especially in the job market.

I would like to sign off by quoting a line I reckon, said by the CMO of a renowned South Indian finance company in a conference I happened to be a part of. He said, “We are talking about a technology which has evolved over a century, surpassing us, humans who have evolved over thousands of years. It simply doesn’t make sense.”

I conclude my article by wishing you every success in your future endeavours.