Is AI going to take my job?
A
Although GaGu is quite sure that you’ve asked this as a way to exploit his tendency to expand the word ‘no’ to 300 flowery spittle-filled words, the answer is actually ‘maybe’ and you should probably be worried. There is no picture of the future that does not include an increase of AI’s capabilities and subsequently its responsibilities.
Even now, AI might be thick, but it makes about as many mistakes as you do, reader. It doesn’t need to sleep or eat, unlike your meaty carcass. It won’t hide in the toilet for half an hour browsing Reddit on its phone. It’s bloody cheap, and doesn’t demand things like pension contributions or ‘rights’. AI does as it’s told, just like you don’t. It is therefore not a surprise that employers without scruples or funds are racing to exploit today’s rudimentary AI for all it’s worth. Imagine what tomorrow’s more capable AI tools will bring.
And do bear in mind that there’s more than one kind of AI. Guru is obviously scared that generative AI like ChatGPT or Google Bard will one day be able to write his column better than he can. He knows it currently can’t, because he’s a cheeky blighter who’s tried to get away with it. But generative AI is a dumb trick whose training is legally dubious – whereas reactive AIs, working analytics magic to discover insights in data they’ve been explicitly allowed access to, can already crunch numbers more effectively than any human. Worry about those. They’re already taking jobs, because they make things better.
Guru doesn’t know what job you do, reader. Perhaps you’re a plumber, in which case AI is unlikely to impact your job in your lifetime, beyond someone using it to steal your clients. Perhaps you’re not a plumber, in which case GaGu would recommend either becoming a plumber before the robots fully take over civilisation, or firing up ChatGPT to get a little robo-help tickling up that CV. Just in case.