Automation and AI Are Not Killing Jobs

Automation is one of those things that scare humans that it might kill their jobs, but this does not work like this. Automation and AI are not exactly here to kill jobs. The facts and studies are the total opposite of what people are afraid of. Whenever automation is upgraded or renewed there are always some extra features to make it more productive, accurate, competent, and yes, more automated. These are the words that are designed to scare people about their jobs.

One of the biggest fears about automation is the myth (or perhaps can be even the fact) that it kills jobs. Machines will never do that as Automation and AI are not exactly killing the jobs here but are making jobs more simple and changing the way used to be. In this article, we are going to look at some facts and knowledge that will clear this fear of automation and AI.

A Report By RBC:

RBC researched the job and skill-sets in Canada. This report stated that in the next 4 years of span, automation is, obviously, going to change a lot of jobs and their required skills. BUT, it is not going to kill jobs in any way. Actually, it will create more jobs that will require a mix of different skill sets even when the job title is the same.

If we talk in numbers, this disruption, caused by automation, will create nearly 2.4 million jobs all alone in Canada. Now, you can see how bright the future of jobs with automation and AI is. A new economy will emerge that will also depend more on the flexible and remote workforce, upgrading technology and adopting new changes in the world.


Type of Jobs Facing Changes:

When we talk about wages, there are some big and slight changes after the implementation of automation. Let’s divide the industries into three segments; low wage, mid-wage, high wage. Now while talking about low-wage jobs, a region that can not have automation, is not shrinking. The best examples are home health care, salon, gym, and similar occupations. There are no changes required in the skill sets of their occupations.

The same goes for high wage occupations. AI and automation technology are no match for the expertise of high wage earners. Their annual wages are still going up just like low-wage earners.

Now, if we look at the mid-wage occupation, their wage is also increasing, but they need to improve their skill-sets. Automation has brought a few changes to make them more productive and efficient. These changes are forcing these earners to add more skills to their portfolio to earn big.

As we already said, mid wagers need to improve themselves in order to increase their wage and value. That means, with changes in jobs, skills are also changing. “I think that it’s rational to be optimistic,” says Richard Reeves, director of the Future of the Middle-Class Initiative at the Brookings Institution. “But I don’t think that we should be complacent. It won’t just automatically be OK.”

These changes may not be that big but that does not mean it is not happening. Another thing to know is that the pace of these changes is very high in the current scenario. If the adaptation of these changes is at the same pace as of changes in jobs, that means people are watching their job and changes in the industry.

Source: MIT, TBM Watson AI Lab

Requirements of Job:

One question that will arise in the middle of this is, do people know the skills their job requires? Sometimes companies, while listing jobs, do not always clear what a job entails.

“Job listings tell you a lot about what an organization or team thinks it wants, but not actually what it needs,” says Madeleine Clare Elish, a researcher at Data & Society who studies AI and work.

Changes We Might See Soon:

Due to AI and automation, we soon will see changes in the roles of a job. Like in workshops, automation did cut some low-level jobs, but it also created the opening of machine operators. So a worker is now a machine operator.

AI is encouraging humans to think outside the box or it might replace them. As we are doing the same work for a very long time, we have become robots. Instead of getting inspiration, we are experiencing fear of AI, and this is forcing us to think outside the box.

It also has increased accuracy for work. AI and automation are the reason why our work has become more accurate and efficient. That means, now we have lower risks of human errors.

Conclusion:

AI is growing up fast and we all can see its effect on our work life. Denying its presence is hard now. We may not be too far from the world where banker, teachers like professions will be replaced by machines. But Who will train these machines? Humans. AI and Jobs are like Energy, instead of destroying it, it is just changing its form.