By: Ranim Elgabakhngi
An AI-driven transformation is underway, which is gradually changing how work is done in almost every sector. Although at first, it seems as if the changes coming are very slow, similar to silent waves starting to form far away, their impact is felt quite suddenly – making some roles obsolete even before people realize what has changed.
Early Warnings
Rapid changes initially manifest the most in the places where machines outperform humans – routine jobs. These involve tasks such as inputting data, responding to straightforward queries or rote actions in production lines which are gradually disappearing as software, being much faster and never getting tired, can now perform them. Companies install automation to reduce costs, describing it as performance improvement rather than employee layoffs. Workers engaged in these tasks get little, if any, warning and are left to find out abruptly that their jobs no longer exist.
Accelerating Surge
The way technology advances, it starts to reach fields where only humans were thought to be capable. After that, human professions like coding, law analyzing, diagnosing, or making art have been jeopardized. Robots nowadays can program, write up reports, read X-rays, even come up with stories – and they are improving all the time. People who have undergone years of study and training unexpectedly get substituted with alternatives that are faster and cheaper. What was a lifetime’s learning is now equal to systems, which are based on algorithms, not human experience.
Uneven Impact
Uneven effects spread to different communities as job reallocation occurs. Some people with advanced training manage to adapt they may end up programming the technology or switching between different fields. People whose jobs involve manual labor or working in direct contact with customers usually have fewer options for changing their professional paths. Regions whose economy is primarily based on traditional industries first experience an increase in stress levels. There are new learning opportunities for the development of skills that pop up here and there. Nevertheless, it is still hard to change to an entirely new career without having the appropriate educational background.
Inevitable Adaptation
Change driven by AI continues its march forward no matter how much resistance it encounters. Which way societies evolve will be determined by the decisions that are made today. The changes brought about by automation can be made less painful through the implementation of appropriate policies.
Learning opportunities should be increased in the same way that jobs are changing. Someone who is changing careers is more easily helped with the provision of money from social security. We are now focusing on the capabilities that are least susceptible to being taken over by machines. Human creativity, empathy, and judgment are becoming more and more the main things that people do. In fact, it is the direction that counts more than the speed. The effect that preparation has on the result is much greater than that of prediction.
Change can be a huge shock, however, the idea of human-technology collaboration to work jobs is a positive one. We are being changed by machines in the way we work, but at the same time, the first opportunities are coming for automation of repetitive tasks and increase of human capacity. It is always the purpose that matters when making progress.
