Robots are coming, let them

Artificial intelligence is a mechanised simulation of human intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is not just some fantasy idea adapted from fictional characters like ‘data’ from Star Trek. It is a very real field that is here to stay. Everywhere you turn today is some unbelievable technological advancement, the world is becoming autonomous from Alexa, Siri advanced search engines, self-driving cars and new and improved heavy machinery to all businesses going online. We see our lives shifting from what we thought was smartphone addictions and gaming to becoming a useful and integral part of our day.

AI will most certainly replace mainstream jobs along with human labour.

Societal changes driven by technology, awaken concerns for valid reasons. A study at McKinsey Global Institute claims that by 2030, 30 percent of labour on earth would be replaced by intelligent, automated robots. It would be similar to the revolution in America and Britain that helped people move away from agricultural labour.

Many fear that the increase in unemployment could be exponential and the transition from labour to automation while necessary will have drastic impacts since not only will it affect labour, many white collared jobs will lose some of their importance as complex algorithm and analysis of artificial intelligence conduct basic accounting or legal paperwork instead of chartered accountants and lawyers.

Thankfully these jobs can still maintain their relevance if mandatory refreshment courses are taken to maintain competence and increase efficient use of automation. They will also provide their own employment with the way the introduction of computers in India created millions of jobs for software professionals.

At the end of the day, the jobs replaced by artificial intelligence are tiring jobs nobody wanted in the first place, instead of these laborious and tiring jobs we can now focus on creative fields such as arts, crafts and music as our basic needs will be supplied using artificial intelligence.

There will be a major impact, jobs will be lost and the transition won’t be easy but once completed it will revolutionise our lives and improve many problems such as poor health care poverty through data analysis thereby helping us focus on discovering the wonders of our infinite universe.