AI vs. Humans: What will the Future Look Like?
With the increasing pervasiveness of technology and AI in the world, many people wonder how humans and robots will coexist. Without technology and AI, we wouldn’t be able to live the way we do. From the way we communicate on social media, the things we buy online, the way we open our phones using face ID and so much more all tie to AI technology and algorithms. With all the good that AI and modern technology can bring, what are some challenges and problems that AI could bring?
One of the most notable concerns many people have with the rise of AI is the possibility that it will cause a rise in unemployment. Of course, there are some jobs that technology will never be able to replace (at least in the near future). However, as AI technology becomes more efficient and prevalent, people fear that AI could easily replace jobs that require relatively less education, like manufacturing jobs, receptionist jobs, retail jobs, and more. During the early stages of COVID-19, because of lockdown restrictions, many employers found themselves stuck because of the lack of employees able to come into the workplace. As a result, robots were utilized to replace human workers. For example, universities and hospitals utilized Sally, a salad-making robot, to replace dining-hall employees during the peak times of COVID in the United States.
Because robots are much more efficient and require less attention than human employees do, employers might find it more profitable to employ robots rather than human workers. Daniel Susskind, a professor of economics at the University of Oxford, said: “Machines don’t fall ill, they don’t need to isolate to protect peers, they don’t need to take time off work.” As a result, companies may find it economically beneficial to employ robots rather than humans, causing a decrease in the demand for jobs like manufacturing, blue-collar jobs, and more.
While the development in technology will certainly cause a decrease in the demand for human low-wage jobs and blue-collar jobs, it will certainly increase the demand for high-wage, complex, and intellectual jobs. As stated by the Harvard Business Review, because computers and robots are employed to primarily perform highly repetitive tasks, which are often delegated to entry-level employees, technology will enable all employees including entry-level employees to have more opportunities to perform and allocate efforts to more complex and thought-provoking tasks that are usually assigned to senior employees. Consequently, this will enable young professionals to have a wider range of careers to explore, as well as grant them more chances to become pioneers and create in their fields even with little experience.
Another disadvantage as a direct result of increased technology and automation is the rise of income inequality. Research done by Daron Accmoglu, an MIT economist, found that “50 to 70% of the growth in US wage inequality between 1980 and 2016 was caused by automation.” The increase in the prevalence of technology all over the world has undoubtedly increased the number of jobs and success rates of tech employees. Big tech conglomerates like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are expected to experience massive increases in revenue in the following years as investments in AI research and AI hardware start to pay off. The increase in profit for big tech companies will increase the income disparity between the mega-rich and the poor. In contrast, workers who manufacture and workers who perform repetitive tasks are at a high risk of being replaced or being paid lower wages because of automation taking over jobs. Because automation is more efficient, the demand for employees who perform repetitive tasks will decrease.
Furthermore, white-collar jobs and intellectually demanding jobs that can’t be replaced by machinery require numerous hurdles to reach and as a result, many low-income workers will have a harder time finding employment in those jobs. For instance, landing a job at a big tech company that won’t be replaced by robots requires years of college education, internships, and general experience. People from low-income backgrounds have less of an opportunity to be able to experience these privileges that white-collar jobs require and as a result, they are forced to turn to low-wage and repetitive jobs. These people will have a harder time finding jobs because they don’t have the same opportunities and skillsets that many intellectually-challenging jobs require.
Another disadvantage of AI is that it could worsen human bias and inequality. Because AI s an automated system coded by an algorithm, it will perform whatever task it is taught to do by its programmer. This could consequently allow people to apply their personal biases to algorithms.
In 2019, a study published by Science found that an algorithm in US hospitals that distributes healthcare to patients was systemically discriminating against Black people. Because of the algorithm, white people were more likely than Black people to be referred to health programs even if they were equally sick; this type of algorithm is used to manage care for around 200 million people in the US per year. While only 17.7% of Black patients were assigned to receive extra care in one year, if the algorithm was unbiased, at least 46.5% of Black patients would have been assigned to receive extra care. The algorithm assigned risk scores to patients based on total healthcare costs accumulated in one year. While Black people and white people had similar medical costs, the algorithm did not consider that the average Black person experiences an increased risk for health problems compared to the average white person. Black communities have a greater prevalence of conditions like diabetes, anemia, high blood pressure, and more.
Instances like these highlight how AI or certain algorithms could increase human bias and injustice without even knowing it. Oftentimes, it’s hard to think of every single exception or nuance when building an algorithm, and it’s hard to come across them until they’re employed on a large scale. AI and algorithms are straightforward; if it isn’t explicitly told to do something, it won’t. As one might expect, AI technology doesn’t have the moral judgment, the shrewdness, or the emotional intelligence that humans do. Because of this, humans are better at making case-by-case judgments as we can understand the nuances that AI can’t. But humans also have the ability to apply their biases and prejudices to important algorithms like this, further increasing inequality.
Technology is here to stay whether we like it or not. Automation, AI, robots, and everything in between brings great benefits to the world: increased productivity, GDP, quality of life, easy communication, and so much more. But with these positives, it’s important to think about the possible adverse effects technology can have on humanity. Technology itself is a neutral thing–but how society chooses to implement it will majorly impact whether technology will continue and create more problems, or solve more problems.