There is no doubt that fears have arisen in the hearts of men in the area of loss of jobs to automation. This fears have their root in the fact that people are beginning to see AI replacing humanity instead of complimenting humanity in the labour market.
I once read a survey made by professor Noel Sharkey on this. He stated that over 49% of jobs are on the brink of being lost to automation.
We all know that this tech era is characterized mainly by industrial automation and robotic revolution; both of which rely on AI.
Is AI really a threat to humanity? Will it do more good than harm to the future of our jobs?
I'll answer this question with a trip down the history's memory lane.
Journey into history
Back in the pre-industrial era; in the area of farming for example, human labour was the major contribution then. And this was characterized by tedious work.
Farming was rather seen as "hell-in-a-cell", because of the stress involved.
This continued until the industrial revolution of 1900. Mechanical devices replaced human labour. With this replacements, no doubt, human jobs were lost, but did the output increase? The answer is an emphatic "YES".
With the invention of machines, farming was made easier with bigger output. "At the expense of human jobs?" you may ask. Well, that's the nature of revolution.
But the question is:
Is history set to repeat itself again with the evolution of AI and advanced technological revolution?
The truth is, AI has already started replacing humans in the labour market. But there's a way out, and one of them is the Universal Basic Income (UBI).
Review on UBI
This is a policy that has been proposed to compensate for the jobs lost to industrial automation. The principle is this:
A percentage of funds generated from the process of automation would be unconditional paid directly to all the country's citizens to even out the effect of job losses.
This funds are to be paid at a stipulated time.
A pilot system has also been put in place for testing, with Netherland and Finland taking a lead in this. 2000 citizens (selected randomly) will be the first to be used to test-run the entire system, for a period of 2 years.
The citizens will receive an average of €560 (still on review though) on a monthly basis. I think this is a welcome idea, as it will aid in alleviating poverty and also boosting productivity.
Tech revolution is inevitable; we just have to figure out a way to flow with it, not against it.
Tech Rules!!
Thanks for reading
References for reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3
