I Could Lose my Job to a Computer…and I Have Some Mixed Feelings About That
Photo by Philipp Katzenberger on Unsplash
When I told my high school theology teacher that I would be going to college to study computer science, I was met with his concern over the ethical implications of AI. Being quite concerned with ethics myself, I decided that I wouldn’t focus on artificial intelligence in my studies; I wasn’t going to “play God.” Three years later, though, I’ve found myself taking multiple AI-focused classes and preparing to begin studying data science at the graduate level; and in that time, I’ve found that AI is not inherently unethical, but it carries with it many nuanced ethical issues.
One of those issues, which has been on my mind as of late, is the very real (though perhaps not as imminent as some warn) threat that AI could take over peoples’ jobs. Just this afternoon, I called my doctor’s office and was met not with a human voice, but rather an automated message and subsequent menus.
We used to rely on people to answer phones.
My first college internship was in IT, mainly working at a help desk. While I couldn’t see myself doing that exact job for the entirety of my career, it was a starting point that gave me the experience I needed to start my career. Knowing what I now know about the use of AI in “prediction machines,” decision making, and mimicking human conversation, I realize that it would be very possible for that job to be taken over by AI.
That would be much cheaper than paying for human time and labor!
Considering that many people start their careers the same way that I did, that’s also a big problem.
It is already hard enough to get an entry-level job without a college degree. If we automate as many of those jobs as possible, we increase the already existing barriers for people who depend on those jobs, while doing nothing to provide them with opportunities to advance their careers.
While replacing jobs with AI presents the possibility for many businesses to make economic gains, it holds a much more significant impact for the individuals who work for those businesses.
At the same time, though, there are certain cases in which replacing humans with AI could benefit both businesses and individuals. Take for example a small mom-and-pop store, with few employees and relatively little revenue, meaning that they can’t pay those employees much more than minimum wage. If they could implement a simple chatbot on their website or an automated phone message/menu to respond to customers’ inquiries, the employees could get more work done by not having to spend as much time repeatedly having the same conversations. Perhaps the ability to spread themselves a bit less-thin would allow the employees to better serve customers and keep the store in good condition, improving its reputation and gaining more business, resulting in greater revenue and, by extension, better pay.
Of course, that’s all theoretical and probably over-exaggerated. But, it is important to remember that AI is not all bad, even when it comes to replacing humans in certain circumstances.
Clearly, choosing whether or not to use AI can be a very complex decision for a business to make, considering the potential effects for all of the individuals involved, both employees and clients…perhaps a job for a prediction machine?
