AI can create more jobs in the future by creating entirely new jobs in existing industries and by creating entirely new industries, both AI and non-AI related.
Despite the doom and gloom reports of robots eliminating 6% of all jobs in the U.S. by 2021, or of 83% of U.S. jobs about to automated, experts still believe that when it comes down to it, there will still be more jobs created by AI than it displaces. Granted, the pace that jobs are being displaced is still faster than the pace that new jobs are created, today. But, as more industries and companies adopt AI into their workflow, job creation is bound to outpace job displacement.
First, it is important to realize that while AI will make certain jobs obsolete, it also has the potential to create entirely new jobs as companies reimagine their business processes with it.
In a study of 1,000 companies that are already using or testing AI technologies, researchers found that three new categories of jobs (Trainers, Explainers, and Sustainers) emerged as a direct result of AI technologies. Basically, the Trainers were those in charge of machine learning, teaching the AI how to do it's job and making sure they improve in doing it. The Explainers are the ones who bridge the gap between the business leaders and technologies in the company. And the Sustainers are in charge of running the AI, making sure they work as intended and troubleshooting as issues arise.
Companies from traditional industries will therefore need people to do these new jobs that complement the AI technology itself, to make sure that the work of the AI machines are effective, and that the tasks performed are fair, transparent, and correct.
Second, AI also has the potential to create new industries that we may not have even heard of. Consider how the invention of flight created the aviation industry, and with it jobs for pilots, flight attendants, ticketing agents, aeronautical engineers and every other job that came with flying. But, aside from the aviation industry, flying was also indirectly responsible for the growth of tourism, logistics, and air shipping industries around the world.
Like the invention of flight, AI has the potential to create a similar disruption that could result to new industries, both directly and indirectly related to AI, and with it a whole set of new and old jobs required to run these new industries. So, imagine the size of the AI industry today. As this grows, there will be more jobs for researchers, developers, and designers of AI systems. Amazon, for example, recently announced it was going to open a new facility and hire software engineers and scientists to support the development of its AI-enabled assistant "Alexa".
AI's impact on the job market is therefore more positive than negative since it has the potential to create new jobs in traditional industries and create new industries that will open up more job opportunities. Nonetheless, it doesn't discount the fact that before that happens, there will still be massive job displacement. And that the new jobs created may not necessarily fit those whose jobs will be displaced.
So, it is important that those people who think (and even those that don't) that their job is vulnerable to automation start acquiring new skills and preparing for the disruption that AI is bound to cause in the very near future. Because no matter how we look at it, AI is going to cause changes, and when it does, it's better that we're not caught unprepared.
Hope this helps.
Sources:
- The Jobs That Artificial Intelligence Will Create. http://www.maximo.ae/media/1306/the-jobs-that-artificial-intelligence-will-create-2-1.pdf
- AI will create new jobs but skills must shift, say tech giants. https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/28/ai-will-create-new-jobs-but-skills-must-shift-say-tech-giants/
- Gartner Reveal Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2018 and Beyond. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2017-10-03-gartner-reveals-top-predictions-for-it-organizations-and-users-in-2018-and-beyond