Creating Jobs in the AI age

Milouda BOUICHOU, Statistician /Economist /Data Scientist, Morocco

milouda.bouichou@gmail.com,+212620024919

Abstract

Human History reached an unprecedented peak of technological advancement. AI taking over many jobs
is no longer a subject treated by Science fiction Novels but a real challenge to question our ability to
imagine and adapt to take the next big leap.

Introduction

In the near future, a considerable amount of man labor will be replaced by AI. This means
that many people will be put to unemployment as technological advancement did in the past.
Unemployment has negative impacts on society including the raise of divorce rate 1,
murders...etc2. The wellbeing of people financially and psychologically is always undermined by
any change resulting on unemployment.
For these reasons, we need to think about how to adapt to the AI age, or even better: upgrade our
global civilization and make use of the limitless possibilities offered by the AI.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Economy

Regardless of Politicians promises to raise jobs by outsourcing back the US, automation is
expected to take over. According to Jay Wacker3, 20 to 40 million jobs are in peril from AI and
other tech developments (which is equivalent to 15% to 30% of the US work force).
The constant need in Economy to growth, by optimizing costs is pushing definitely to automate
most of the jobs that don’t require creativity or human like abilities in problem solving areas. For
example, a factory of the famous manufacturer “Foxconn Technology Group” replaced around
90% of its work force by Robots. According to a report produced by the DBS bank4: “the only
key to improve productivity is Automation”.
Accenture, a big management consulting firm, predicted that by 2021, AI will generate 2.9
trillion dollars in business value.
From all this data we can easily deduce that it is only a matter of time before most industries
adopt Artificial intelligence, a thing that many gigantic companies are doing now, like Amazon
and Alibaba in warehouses management. Experts preach that adopting AI the right way is the
variable that is going to define winners and losers in the few coming years.

1
Economic Conditions and the Divorce Rate: A Time-Series Analysis of the Postwar United States
Scott J. South
Journal of Marriage and Family
Vol. 47, No. 1 (Feb., 1985), pp. 31-41
2
The link between unemployment and crime rate fluctuations: An analysis at the county, state, and national
levels .Julie Phillips , Kenneth C. Land ,Department of Sociology, Rutgers University
3
https://www.quora.com/Do-you-think-AI-will-decrease-human-labor
4
https://www.dbs.com/insights/uploads/report-3-china-bri-automation-and-the-evolving-supply-chain.pdf
 2. Artificial Intelligence and Social resistance

It is part of the human nature to resist any changes. Back in the 19th century, Luddites were
destroying weaving machines as they believed it is a deceitful way to get around the orthodox
practices of work. The destruction5 of this item of technology continued until the government
decided to clash militarily this movement and punish any act of destruction by the death penalty.
In our time, most people don’t have a clear idea of the meaning of Artificial Intelligence, they
mostly look at it as a Pandora box: curious to see what potential it has to push further the human
boundaries but also afraid of the downsides of AI.
Hollywood also cultivated a culture of human versus machine and the myth that machines will
outsmart us then come for us. A warning that even Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk had stated
in many occasions.

3. What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence as a field of scientific research was established back in 1956 by John
McCarthy. He invited famous researcher from different fields of expertise to lay the corner stones
of the concept of a “Thinking Machine”. The proposal for the conference said “The study is to
proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of
intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate
it”6.

After more than 60 years of research and many breakthroughs, new aspects of AI unraveled and
so the definition evolved. An exemplary modern definition can be found in dictionaries:
“The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring
human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and
translation between languages.”7
The first development between the two definitions is that the second is more specific and more
illustrative. However, leading companies in the field of AI did not yet provide a dictionary
definition. As a relatively new field, Experts don’t know yet the possibilities that can be
definitely surprising.

4. How Artificial Intelligence works?

Artificial intelligence is basically building an intelligent machine /program that can learn
and take decisions on its own.
A computer needs to be told what to do, but we can teach this computer to be intelligent. This
issue is exactly at the core of Machine Learning.
Machine Learning is set of different methods that enables a machine to :
(i) Make Decision
(ii) Make predictions

5
Also known as the Swing Riots
6
A proposal for the Dartmouth Summer research project on Artificial Intelligence . J. McCarthy, Dartmouth
College, M.L. Minsky, Harvard University, N. Rochester, I.B.M Corporation, C.E. Shannon, Bell Telephone
Laboratories. http://raysolomonoff.com/dartmouth/boxa/dart564props.pdf
7
English Oxford Living Dictionaries.
Many ML algorithms are created and widely used. These algorithms are basically a simulation of
living beings. For instance, A Neural Network algorithm simulates thinking and creates simulated
brains by creating Neurons: In response to a specific stimulation, a neuron fires or not. The
aggregate outcome constitutes a decision. Similarly, a Perceptron (an artificial neuron) takes in
several binary inputs and yields an output of 0 or 1. The inputs are generally convoyed with
weights that reflect the importance of a certain input on the outcome. To this point, we realize
that we created an autonomous decision making process. Making predictions also is nothing but
programming a procedure that will allow to the machine to adjust to its environment by
comparing its predictions to real world data then adjusting the initial weights of inputs so that the
bias /error decreases. This technique is known as the backpropagation.

5. Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Many applications of AI are now available to the wide public and used many industries:
from Siri to Tesla’s self-driving cars, the possibilities are endless. This is why experts argue that
we have reached the fourth industrial revolution.

Illustration: Industry 4.0, showing the four "industrial revolutions”8

6. Functions of Artificial Intelligence

Machines can have three functions or goals:

(i) Amplification of a certain aspect of human abilities:
Machine have already replaced many tasks that used to be repetitive or that are time and effort
costly. For example, automation now can replace repetitive tasks in manufactories, or heavy tasks
that used a lot of man power. AI can do even more complicated tasks that used to be a human

8
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Industry_4.0.png
capability: History recorded 1997 as an important turning point in AI development where Deep
Blue won over the World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov in a chess game. Before 1997,
playing successfully chess was exclusively a task that only the human mind can accomplish9.
Now AI reached the level where our most human thinking processes can be simulated including
creativity. Dreamcatcher; a project created by Autodesk allows designers to defeat the usual
boundaries to creative designs by using all the data (material constraints, functions, costs …etc.)
and auto generate all the possible and feasible designs that we can sort by any criteria and pick
the most adequate among them.
(ii) Interaction with humans

Thanks to AI, industries can optimize the return from the costumer services by using smart chat
bots and virtual agents that interact better with people and deal with issues like complaints.

(iii) Embodying and empowering humans (Physically)

This kind of devices interacts with humans like in manufactories (they are called cobots) or the
exoskeletons used in the Military to empower the human body.

7. How to adapt to the AI age: jobs and income redistribution

There many ways to adapt to the AI age safely and make the transition without destroying
the human civilization or harming any individual life. It is inevitable that many jobs will be
replaced by AI, but also it is important to know that other job will created.

(i) Income Solution : Universal Basic Income

Any technological advancement is made in the purpose to make our lives easier and therefore
happier. But with the apprehension that AI will put many people to unemployment, isn’t that
going to have negative impact on people’s happiness? Many people associate their wellbeing
with work and salaries they earn through selling their skills. But what if they lose both of them at
once?

Some researcher and AI pioneers suggested opting for a Universal Basic income: it means that
anyone will be entitled to a fixed income regardless of their occupation. Many countries have
already adopted this approach from the perspective that every citizen has the right to a minimum
of living standards that protects their dignity. This Basic Economic security will allow people to
do the work they are passionate about.

Many can doubt the ability of humans to engage in work without a material reward, which is
relatively wrong: Science showed that people will work regardless of their financial situation; we
can witness this phenomenon in our day-to-day life through volunteers, care givers and parents
that offer free work.

9
Chess can be NP-Hard problem.
To implement this policy, governments may revise their taxing policies for companies opting for
AI instead of humans. This kind of policies may slow the evolution of industries toward the 4.0
standards which will buy time to both: workers and business owners to adjust to the AI age.

(ii) Jobs in the AI age

As mentioned earlier, many occupations will be rendered obsolete by machines, but also many
other jobs will be created. In the meantime, some jobs won’t be affected by the AI age in term of
what society needs. Jobs like Academicians in many specialties like Sociology, Mathematics,
Physics and so forth will remain relevant in the AI age. New problematics and themes will
require investigations like “Will the social structure be affected with Robots living with us?”

The presence of AI creates a new type of jobs that experts describe as follow:

(a) Trainers: a trainer is responsible of training the AI so it behaves properly. By properly we

mean in alignment with its functions and goals. For example, companies need trainers so
they make sure their AI embody the right culture and respond exactly to what costumers are
expecting. This kind of occupation will also involve non-technical human labor like
Psychology and Sociology.
(b) Explainers: the role of this category is to explain the role and the implications of AI.
Explainers help decision makers within a company to decide whether to explain their AI
infrastructure in functional details or to keep it a black box from the different stakeholders by
presenting the implications of each scenario.
(c) Sustainers: Sustainers are more concerned about drawing and analyzing the ongoing
implications of the company’s rules and policies regarding the usage of AI. They also
evaluate the level of transparency in these processes.

(iii) Education and professional training adaptation

Due to all these new upgrades in our living environment, the needs to specific skills in the labor
market will change. Education should also adapt to these changes and make the necessary
reforms to adapt our young people and kids to the AI age.

Thirty years ago, nobody was talking about the occupations of a “Software Engineer, a web
designer, a developer… , but now it seems to be the daily job of more than 18 million person
around the world with a an interesting proportion working in the Silicon Valley only. This fact
illustrates the ability of our societies and schools to adapt to demand in the Labor market.

It is also essential that governments from the developing countries rethink the education sector
seriously as it can be a huge factor in defining countries’ positions for the next decades.
 8. Business in the AI age

The creation of PathAI by a team from Harvard Medical School led by Dr. Andrew Beck10
proved that the fusion of skill or the judgement integration between a human and an AI can yield
very good results. As a matter of fact, cancer detection using AI alone is only 92% accurate while
the pathologist ability to detect cancer is 96% accurate. An AI-assisted physician can detect
cancer at an accuracy level of 99.5%11 .
All what we need to be aware of is the potential of debunking the belief that humanity and AI are
against each other, in fact; AI and humans can be very productive teammates.
Therefore, current business models need to be reimagined with new approaches. We can learn
from the history of Taylorism and Fordism where Ford’s employees are paid better as the
company grows and become more efficient. In the AI time, data are the catalyst and the tool any
smart business rely on to capture the market topology and stimuli. This way, processes may be
reengineered efficiently to sustain growth and make life a lot better at the global level by
ensuring better services and quality goods.

Conclusion

AI age is upon us, predictions aren’t yet conclusive if it is going to happen within years or
within decades. Our only chance is to be prepared.
According to the organization for Economic cooperation and development Survey, close to one in
two jobs are likely to be significantly affected by automation, based on the task they involve.
Many jobs indeed are going to be replaced by AI and many others are to be created. Research
suggests that workers should get ready to take the leap: by getting the right education and
professional training and refusing any myths related to “Man vs Machine”, but rather adopt a
vision of “collaborative intelligence”. AI is man-made to serve humans’ goals and make life
easier. The attributes we should always keep in mind while speculating about AI:
AI is accountable, transparent, honest, fair and human centric. These qualities are keys to support
our initiatives toward Social justice and Economic growth.

Reference

 Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI, by Paul R.

Daugherty (Author), H. James Wilson (Author)

10
https://becklab.hms.harvard.edu/people/andrew-beck
11
https://www.livescience.com/55145-ai-boosts-cancer-screen-accuracy.html