Many have recently lost their jobs because of the growing use of artificial intelligence, which refers to the simulation of intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In many countries, automation-spurred job loss is one of the main consequences of artificial intelligence, rendered one of the important technological advancements globally. In the last decade, the number of jobs lost was notable due to the increased use of artificial intelligence, which allows machines to model and improve the capabilities of the human mind, the goals of which include computer-enhanced learning, reasoning and perception and which makes business, profession and life easier with its many beneficial outcomes including higher levels of efficiency and productivity.
Notably, artificial intelligence is used to carry out easier jobs such as chess playing and more complicated tasks such as problem solving without any human intervention. It is being used in health care, financial industries and other sectors. In health care, artificial intelligence is used in dosing drugs, doling out different treatments tailored to specific patients and aiding in surgical procedures. Moreover, artificial intelligence is used to detect and flag activity in banking and finance such as unusual debit card usage. It can also make trading easier by making the supply, demand and pricing of securities easier to estimate. Consequently, many countries are increasing the application of artificial intelligence technology, though the United States and China are supportive of applying it more than other countries including European countries.
Of course, artificial intelligence, which is important in the age of the twenty-first century, has not impacted jobs enormously yet due to its current limited use in many countries. But its use is increasing day by day in many countries including agro-based countries. In the future, there is no doubt that machines will take over a massive portion of jobs that people do today. According to available sources, the world will lose 85 million jobs in the next few years in the wake of the adoption of smart machines by companies. In addition, the increased use of artificial intelligence will make millions of jobs obsolete in the world. In the United States alone, artificial intelligence automation can make 45 million people jobless by 2030.
No doubt, jobs are lost not only because of the incrased use of artificial intelligence but also due to many other causes including economic recession, wars and conflicts and governmental and organizational policies. Notably, economic recession, wars and conflicts and governmental and organizational policies increase the number of jobless in many countries including developed and developing countries. But the positive aspect is that artificial intelligence will create new job opportunities, even if the number of new jobs can be minuscule compared with the number of jobs that may be lost and new job opportunities will require improved knowledge and skills in technologies. According to available sources, artificial intelligence could create 58 million new jobs, along with the generation of more than fifty trillion USD for the economy of the world by 2030.
It is pertinent to note that there are other harmful effects of the increased usage of artificial intelligence, in addition to job loss. It can result in bias. This is the case when algorithms are intentionally or inadvertently built with a bias. In this case, they will produce biased results. Artificial intelligence can hinder social advancement. Artificial intelligence can be especially detrimental to society when deepfakes and deep learning models are used as vehicles for stealing money, sensitive data and confidential intellectual property. The wrong prediction of artificial intelligence can lead to life threatening events and disastrous social consequences. Moreover, artificial intelligence that lacks emotional intelligence can limit the willingness to make difficult choices and prevent out of the box thinking.
No doubt, emphasis needs to be given to the reduction of the impacts of artificial intelligence on jobs. Retraining and up-skilling can help to reduce artificial intelligence-driven job loss in the coming years. Moreover, measures are needed to prepare new generations for new positions and job opportunities. But it is also imperative to prevent other ill social effects of its use. Algorithms builders need to be trained responsibly to reduce the chance of erroneous input of algorithms. Moreover, measures are needed to lessen the threat of the use of artificial intelligence by terrorist groups. Some sort of regulatory measures on its use can be helpful in this respect. The protection of privacy also needs to be emphasized.
