AI will create jobs. It will also break many jobs
Will more jobs be lost than created?
AI will create new jobs. It will also break many jobs. The only question is whether more jobs will be lost than created.
It's been some weeks since I've posted an UnfilteredFriday, and nothing dampens the irrational optimism of a new year than something unfiltered.
This time, it involves your job.
The glorification of AI
It's easy to get swept up in the tidal wave of AI-optimism. I mean, AI's so useful, isn't it?
We use AI for:
- Complain for spilled food delivery. Ok it's only slightly but...
- Troublesome work reports or homework.
- I even know someone who used AI to write prayers.
A lot of the posts on LinkedIn is at the point of breathless exuberance though. Rafael Brown had enough of it when he penned his irate post yesterday.
Calling out a "cheesy" post predicting "AGI, ASI, UBI, the continuation of the AI bubble", he wrote:
"This is shameless AI evangelizing on a hype bubble. And it is pure marketing and sales. There’s no definition of anything. But there’s a sprinkling of AI celebrity names."
"And there’s a promise that everyone will deliver magically into an AI utopia. And there’s the warning that you better jump in..."
You get the point.
AI will lead to job change
AI is currently so hyped up we neglect to consider the flip side of the coin. Which is: successful AI will lead to changes in jobs. Seismic changes.
AI researcher and Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li said so last year at a conference. The once-chief scientist of AI/ML at Google, whose PhD thesis years ago led to the creation of the seminal ImageNet project - widely considered as a foundation for modern GenAI said:
“I know jobs will change. Every profound technology has changed jobs; there will be pain. If we're not careful, we'll have social unrest."
"If we're not careful, we harm the most vulnerable people, whether they're women, children, people of color, or people from different backgrounds. We have to be careful..."
Don't wait. Prepare today
Yesterday, I wrote that we need to develop AI resilience.
I don't often repeat myself, but I feel it is vital for us to work at staying employable in the age of AI:
- Develop skills that are hard for AI to replicate.
- Use AI to do existing work faster and better.
- Broaden work competence and expertise.
After all, there is no going back. What are you working on to stay ahead?
