MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2023) Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence may usher change in the labor market in certain areas but will never fully replace people, as there will always be things that only humans can do, experts told Sputnik.
Following the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT language model in late November 2022, the public has expressed fascination and anxiety over its ability to mimic human conversations and generate unique texts based on users' prompts. Some have praised the model for its professional applications, such as for developing code, while others are wondering about the potential effect of this technology on various facets of human life, including employment.
Goldman Sachs predicts that roughly 300 million jobs across the globe could face automation thanks to the most recent wave of AIs, about two-thirds of jobs in the United States and Europe could be automated to some extent, and as much as a quarter of all work could be delegated entirely to the AI. Meanwhile, according to the Brookings Institution, while AI could affect every occupational group, it is the better-educated and better-paid workers that will be most exposed to the new technology.
"It is likely workers in these (white-collar) roles will be expected to check the work of machines, or to work with them, and this may change the focus of their work entirely," AI consultant Richard Batt said.
The expert suggested that AI will not completely replace human workers but instead enhance their capabilities and create new roles for them. He used examples of lawyers potentially using AI for document discovery and contract review and doctors for coming up with diagnosis and treatment recommendations, stressing that it will still require human oversight and human experience, since AI is unable to relate to the real world the same way as humans do.
Meanwhile, Vassilis Galanos, a teaching fellow and research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, who studies social dimensions of artificial intelligence, drew attention to the fact that "most human activities are highly complex and cannot be represented in algorithmic environments." Galanos also suggested that while AI may help people with "routinisable tasks," users should be mindful of the so-called "computer says no" effect, when relying on digital technology to make decisions leads to unreasonable results.
"LLMs (large language models) and other recent forms of AI carry the old belief about numbers being objective. They cannot be, when so many subjective values are at stake," the expert warned.
While the extent to which the recent breakthroughs in machine learning will transform our lives is under discussion, this is not the first time people have dealt with potentially disruptive technology, which suggests that humanity could simply repeat the cycle of one type of job being succeeded by another through technological advancement.
"Historically, new jobs are created as a result of the old tasks being automated. It is likely going to be the case that humans will continue to be required for tasks that require interpersonal skills, problem-solving abilities and ethical judgment," Batt said.
Per Bylund, an associate professor of entrepreneurship and the Johnny D. Pope chair in the school of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of business at Oklahoma State University, noted that while the transformation of the labor market by AI will be burdensome in the short term, "it (AI) increases the productivity of labor by taking over certain tasks from people and thereby increasing the output of human labor."
"Artificial intelligence, even if ever gets to create an artificial general intelligence, can replace people in certain tasks but cannot actually replace people. Human creativity in producing solutions that are of value to other people is not programmable. Similarly, the so-called human touch is unlikely to ever be replaced by software and robots. There will always be things that we need people for or value that actual people do," Bylund explained.
What is necessary, according to him, is to figure out a way to address potential issues during the transition process.
"This is where we need a market that is as flexible and open as possible so that people's entrepreneurialism can be used to its full extent in producing the best possible society of tomorrow," Bylund stated.
Nevertheless, Galanos observed that while in the past technological advancement freed people from the more tedious work and allowed them to engage in more meaningful activities, there is still a great deal of unpredictability at play.
"For example, similar debates took place with the popularisation of the internet, but who would think of 'influencers' in the early 1990s?" Galanos noted, adding that in his view "there are already elements of disillusionment around the LLM hype."
