Boon or Bane: All Things AI, Machine Learning and the Future of All Jobs

How often do you ask Siri to remind you to call a client? How often does Alexa play your favorite podcast at your command? Does your car’s GPS automatically pick out the shortest way on a rainy day en route work? Does your smartphone predict ‘Stark’ the moment you key in ‘Tony’?

Well then, you have graciously welcomed AI and machine learning technologies in your life as well.

As the times change rapidly owing to the super-fast digitization the world over, AI and machine learning are here to stay. The newspapers and electronic media are abuzz with expert comments ranging from how delightful an innovation AI is to how it will bring about a cataclysmic end to all jobs. Concerns about whether that is a bad or a good thing have sparked a debate that seems to have no end at all.

Let us find out what started it all.

A few months back, CTO of Dell Technologies, John Roese, remarked that AI and machine learning could potentially disrupt all careers in the future. With AI, automation and machine learning technologies making a splash in all job industries, it is time to delve deep into what drove Roese into making such a powerful statement.

How AI and machine learning is changing the world of work – one instruction at a time

Roese, like all insightful experts of his time, has remarked on the ways that AI and machine learning has spread their roots into the job spheres. Delivering high business value to the day-to-day operations, AI and machine learning have changed various aspects of jobs around the world.

Advancements in technology ring in newer ways of doing the same tasks, aimed at making lives easier and business functions smoother. Here are thus the main aspects of work that have undergone remarkable transformations owing to the advent of machine learning and AI technologies.

• Business processes and AI and machine learning

Business and commerce have always been one of the first sectors to feel the heat of machine learning and AI, and how! If you look back at the way simple day-to-day operations at a multi-national organization a decade back, you would be able to spot the differences galore. Big data handling, automated payroll software, and employee evaluation are just some of the avenues that have lit up using AI and machine learning techniques for a smoother functioning of all business aspects.

• Infrastructural developments through machine learning and AI

Smart intersections, GPS and geo-location features, minimal invasion surgeries carried out by robot surgeons, you get the drift. AI and machine learning have helped improve the quality of infrastructure in all aspects – be it communications, transportation or healthcare – and looks like we are going to see some more of it in the days to come.

• High-quality user experience using AI and machine learning

Taking user experience to a whole new level, AI, and machine learning enhances it further for the end-level users of technology. A lot of tasks that our smartphone is capable of doing in the current times is due to the advancements in research on machine learning and AI. Functions such as voice search, predictive keyboards, and auto-correct features, and face recognition takes place through natural language processing, predictive analysis and visual sensing factors of AI and machine learning.

Naturally, all the industries mentioned above have felt the presence of new-age technology replacing a major portion of their woes with efficiency and accuracy. Whether that means the abolition of all sorts of jobs for the future generations thus remains a question that only time can answer precisely.

How AI and machine learning impacts jobs worldwide

Not all jobs can be at risk because of AI, right? Looking at the kinds of the jobs that can easily be replaced by machine learning and AI-powered tools, devices and bots, you will find out that business leaders of today do not quite regard AI as a separate entity. Integrating it into a part of everything that creates a business infrastructure is one of the biggest steps that we are yet to take.

Here are the kinds of jobs mostly at risk due to the automation process brought on by AI and machine learning for machines are a better means of getting them done than humans.

• Calculations and bookkeeping

Elaborate calculations and bookkeeping tasks can easily be done using AI-powered bots that handle all advanced accounting tasks with just a few simple commands. That does not mean that accountants will be out of jobs soon. They are the ones who are crucial in bringing about this transformation to the entire industry. Balancing ledgers and tallying assets and liabilities are best left to machines that are not prone to any sort of human errors in their calculations.

• Repetitive design or content creation tasks

AI and machine learning have the power to give new-age designers and content creators a run for their money, as it stands currently. From automated assignment writer who customizes your studies as per your requirements to design bots that are programmed to follow specific client instructions, machine learning, and AI are going places when it comes to the creative fields as well. In fact, AI and machine learning can take over content creation tasks for a company for a specific period of time, which is similar to putting it on autopilot mode.

• Jobs involving physical or menial labor

Lifting weights, clearing rubble, and other physically taxing jobs are best left to machines because they can perform the same with greater accuracy, speed and efficiency than humans. Machine learning and AI might sound the death knell for builders or janitors, but even that means having to have at least a team of efficient humans managing the functions of the machines and instructing it to work accordingly.

• Day-to-day operational tasks

Finally, operational tasks in a business that we sometimes take for granted can go for a complete upheaval if AI and machine learning make their way to every sphere of work in the future. Something as simple as switching on the light inside the conference room or commencing a video chat session with offshore colleagues can easily be taken up by AI and machine learning. What matters most is that you integrate them wholly into the infrastructure, so the transformation is smoother.

These apart, AI and machine learning can be superb assistants for teaching jobs of all kinds. Smart education and customizable curriculum are two of the best ways that kids these days get to learn in a tech-integrated classroom. Teachers can thus benefit a lot from personalized learning and teaching tools as well as faster and more accurate evaluation techniques.

Looking ahead – preparing for a machine-learning and AI-enabled job sphere

So how does the future look for AI and machine learning? Where does it put the current generation of workers and what about the ones that are yet to join the workforce? A look at the stats below will tell you how it stands currently and later on along with some insights about the tech revolution of the future.

• About 72% of consumers and business leaders agree that AI is a “business advantage” that they can use to leverage growth and bring in better revenue in the future, says a PwC study.
• The current year is predicted to record around $1474 billion for voice search and natural language processing technologies, as per studies
• Accenture found that AI and machine learning are indicated to increase labor productivity by 40%, so employees learn how to make better use of their time at work

So what do you when faced with a crisis that may wipe out your entire livelihood at the snap of a finger? You upskill like there is no tomorrow.

And that is precisely what the host of new-age workers need to do if they wish to make a living in a tech-based work environment. Integrate tech in everything you do and take up a creative pursuit (like designing mandalas or providing dance therapy classes) that you can fall back on when the times get too hard. Learn to code like a pro, take up a new language or join a digital marketing tutorial, so you are armed with the trending skill sets of the future.

Wrapping it up

The future of entire generations might be hanging in the balance, if AI and machine learning make their way to the top, some say. However, on reviewing the kinds of jobs that are majorly at risk due to the rapid growth of machine learning and AI-powered tech, we found that staying abreast with the latest trends and in-demand skills are great ways that you can combat the predicted job shortage in the future. It is best to arm yourself with the updated skill sets and in-depth knowledge of technology if you want to make it big in the job scene. Upskill never like before, and there will be no stopping you, even if the adversities arise from the machines themselves. Good luck!

Author Bio

Patrick Austin is a business head in a reputed organization in UAE, around a decade of experience in this field. He has also written blogs for management aspirants on opting for assignment help. He has also joined essayassignmenthelp.ae as an academic expert providing assignment help.