Meet AI, your new workmate
Shift from human to robotic labour will radically change our working model
It’s in the cars we drive, in the factories that make consumer goods, on the share-trading floor. Once the subject of dystopian sci-fi, artificial intelligence (AI) has surreptitiously stolen its way into daily life.
But this quiet robotic revolution is about to explode into our workplaces with a deafening crash. From transportation to human resources, AI could soon be our constant vocational companion.
According to a poll undertaken by recruitment firm Hayes, 56 per cent of New Zealanders are sure their jobs will be impacted by AI in the next decade. And its appearance may also spearhead a radical shift in our working paradigm.
Jason Walker, the managing director for Hayes in New Zealand, says that as with all revolutions, the integration of AI into the mainstream workforce is likely be met with resistance.
“Any dramatic change in the way we work will be viewed negatively by some,” he says.
“But there will be enormous opportunities generated as well.”
Driverless cars are one of the more obvious examples of the rise of AI.
Their introduction to the road will have an immediate impact on those who drive for a living.
“Driverless cars will be on the market within five years — this will mean thousands of taxi and Uber drivers will be out of jobs,” says Walker.
Those who work in areas that involve manual, repetitive skills are also likely to suffer from the shift from human to robotic labour.
“When we look at the skills automation is taking over, they are usually ‘hard’ or technical skills.”
Relieving people of mundane, physical work will bring opportunities for people to upskill in different areas. Innovation and creativity aren’t easily programmable; freed from manual labour, employees will have the chance to explore new vocational avenues.
“‘Soft’ skills are a lot more difficult to automate or outsource. Rather than destroying jobs, automation and artificial intelligence may instead change the roles that are available and allow people to focus on new and innovative areas,” he says.
The rise of automation has been making headlines worldwide in recent times. An extract from Guardian writer Paul Mason’s new book, Postcapitalism, explores the transformative power of such technology.
Mason believes that contemporary capitalism will be undermined by rise of automation. In his somewhat utopian vision, he posits that AI will lead to a rise in leisure time and greater prosperity for all.
“[Information technology] has reduced the need for work, blurred the edges between work and free time and loosened the relationship between work and wages,” he says.
“The coming wave of automation, currently stalled because our social infrastructure cannot bear the consequences, will hugely diminish the amount of work needed — not just to subsist but to provide a decent life [for everyone].”
Whether or not AI will lead to a wholesale overthrow of the current economic system is moot, but it’s bound to have a dramatic impact on our day-to-day work experience.
While many of the uses of automation will be benign, some examples of AI in action sound rather chilling. Walker gives an interesting example of how AI may be used in a human resources capacity to monitor employee performance.
“There are apps that are in development that can identify if employees are disengaging with their work,” he explains.
“This predictive technology will monitor the behaviour of employees and alert managers when they are becoming dissatisfied. The employees can then be brought in to meet with their managers to work out how to get back on track.”
This predictive technology will monitor the behaviour of employees and alert managers when they are becoming dissatisfied.
There has been a lot of discussion around the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects in recent years, and even though training in these areas is likely to be important in the future, Walker says that other skills may be more important.
“There are many human skills that AI can’t learn. A robot will never be innovative or a collaborative problem solver. They will never be able to share creative ideas. Empathy and human instinct are crucial to many roles and these are not programmable.”
He acknowledges that many of those displaced by the rise of AI in the workplace may be left in the cold.
“There will be victims of the change to AI and there will be social issues surrounding this,” he says.
But he believes the positives will ultimately outweigh the negatives.