Most people are aware of the threat that artificial intelligence poses to countless jobs, but one AI experts has outlined the exact role that is under most danger of being replaced by the technology in just two years time.
While Bill Gates remains optimistic that AI will give people the freedom to work less in the near future, you certainly can't blame anyone for remaining fearful that their livelihood could simply disappear in the coming years.
Analysts have already predicted which jobs are first on the chopping block for AI-related redundancies, with some already impacted by the technology that's already out there, but a new interview with AI expert Amjad Masad has further cemented the fears of many.
The conversation during the most recent episode of Steven Bartlett's 'The Diary Of A CEO' podcast quickly turned to potential job losses brought on by artificial intelligence, with Bartlett in particular noting the roles he's currently considering:
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"I was thinking about my CFO when you talked about processing business data, my graphic designers, my video editors, etc. So what jobs are going to be impacted?" Bartlett asks.
In response, Amjad Masad had a simple but effective response: "All of those."
Expanding on his answer, Masad explained: "I think if your job is as routine as it comes, your job is gone in the next couple of years.
"In those jobs, for example quality assurance jobs or data entry jobs, you're sitting in front of a computer and you're supposed to click and type things in a certain order. Operator and those technologies are coming on the market really quickly and those are going to displace a lot of labor."
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This could even extend to more 'specialized' roles like accountants and lawyers, Masad suggests, but some jobs might end up unaffected by AI due to regulatory restrictions.
"I think the healthcare ecosystem is hard to predict because of regulation," he indicates, "and again there are so many limiting factors on how this technology permeates the economy because of regulations and people's willingness to take it. But unregulated jobs that are purely text in, text out [...] that job is at risk."
This is similar to the aforementioned future that Bill Gates proposed, where AI will solve the 'problems' that many humans are tasked with dealing with during their daily lives, but we'll still want humans to do some roles, specifically within the industries of entertainment and sports, for example.
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When asked what will happen to people in the vast number of jobs that are displaced by the rise of AI, Masad explained: "No pain no gain. I mean we're going to go through a period of disruption and I think at the other end, the old 'oppressive' systems will be broken and we're going to create perhaps a fair world, but it's going to have its own problems."
Many users in the comments underneath the video took issue with this particular viewpoint, as one comment writes: "'No pain no gain' in response to millions of people losing their jobs and potential societal collapse in part because of your invention is crazy work."
Another adds that Masad "didn't have any remorse in how he said it. So scary to hear such mentality."
Not all AI experts share Madad's perceived 'optimism' for the future, as a man who many call the 'Godfather of AI' recently indicated that the technology would soon cause the downfall of society, and there are bound to be plenty out there that share that particular vision of the future.