Advancements in the field of artificial Intelligence can mean that several humans would lose their jobs. Andrew Ng, a former director from Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and present leader of Baidu’s AI team states that already existing technology as of today is capable of making millions of people jobless. He mentioned that if executives and businesses were fully aware of the what artificial intelligence is already capable of doing, they would have to reinvent the way they do business and that would mean millions would be out of jobs, because AI can perform better than humans. In fact, Mckinsey is reported as saying that already existing technology if fully implemented in the workplace would automate about 51% of all economic activities, making millions of people irrelevant.
The truth is that demand for human labor has always negatively affected by new technology. The major difference with the present case is that the displacement of humans by AI has usually been gradual giving people time to develop new skills to remain relevant. However, the present pace of development and achievement by artificial intelligence technology would mean that an unprecedented number of people would be affected within a short time.
AI advancements are already throwing people out of work. This is not a threat expected to happen in a few years, this is already with us, although quietly. Various firms around the world are already considering how to automate their system and replace humans with smart computers. Across the world and in different industries the impact of AI taking over human jobs is already being felt. This is only the beginning because daily AI technology is breaking new grounds and that would mean even more people would have to go home.
Full implementation of already available technology may still take a while. However the conceivable impact of such implementation makes it a subject that deserves more attention now!