There's more doom and gloom from the world of work, with continued fears that artificial intelligence will soon replace the human race in the workplace. While some industries are presenting a united front and refusing to buckle to the automation of AI, others are already succumbing to the streamlined approach.
It's been hard not to notice the recent evolution of artificial intelligence, but away from concerns about humans falling in love with AI, or the threat it could wipe us off the face of the planet, there's also the fear that AI will replace us in the workplace before long.
Various 'Godfathers' of AI and even Bill Gates have predicted which jobs will become obsolete thanks to AI, with OpenAI even listing 44 jobs that are most at risk.
While it seems that plumbers are almost certainly safe from the AI revolution, there are apparently a few more of us who might be safe from unemployment.
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Speaking to Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast, AI expert Dr Roman Yampolskiy foreshadowed that we'll have the mythical artificial general intelligence by 2027. Going beyond that, the typical working day will be completely different by 2030 as Yampolskiy warned: "In five years, all the physical labour can also be automated."
Painting a grim picture, he continued: "So we're looking at a world where we have levels of unemployment we've never seen before. Not talking about 10 percent unemployment, which is scary, but 99 percent."
Which five jobs are safe from being automated by AI?
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According to Yampolskiy, you might want to pivot into a new career path, with some very specific industries scraping through the AI apocalypse. The expert explained how those who can afford the luxury of human touch should keep some of us safe: "All you have left is jobs, where for whatever reason, you prefer another human would do it for you."
Giving the example of accountants, he reiterates that even though AI can do math at lightning speeds, the rich will likely want to stick to 'traditional ways of doing things': "Warren Buffett would not switch to AI. He would use his human accountant."
There's a peculiar mention of how jobs done by humans could become a 'fetish'. There will supposedly be a 'tiny subset' of the market for those seeking man-made crafts, although this won't be enough to give many of us a steady job. For those who want handmade goods, they might pay more than the mass-produced ones in China.
Amid recent complaints about people using AI as a therapist, Yampolskiy says humans will still be required in this field: "In a world of superintelligence, which is defined as better than all humans in all domains, what can you contribute?
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You know better than anyone what it's like to be you."
Jobs will still be needed to regulate AI
If you're asking, "Who watches the Watchmen?", we'll still need humans to monitor AI. Yampolskiy predicts that workers will be required to make sure AI is making the same decisions that a human would, and although keeping it 100% monitored by humans would be too difficult, there should be a gradual rollout of AI superintelligence over the next 50 years instead of just five. He reiterated: "At this point, we're trying to get more time."
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Finally, we'll need someone to explain AI to everyone. You might feel pretty tech-savvy now, but with even those at the top of their game sometimes struggling with how fast AI is moving, a human touch is required to teach us.
If you plan on putting AI in your business, there's still a need for one person around to explain why you might want to replace your human workforce with robots.