Saving Lives & Preventing Boring Work & Drives

While millions of jobs may disappear in the coming years, at least some positive developments are happening now and are expected soon. Already, technology can predict if a person is suicidal. Also, people will have more free time to do more of what they enjoy, not rote tasks. Lastly, a computer interviewing system might actually keep companies more objective in their hiring process.

Facebook created an algorithm that helps predict a suicidal mental state from users’ posts. The project to prevent suicides launched in March 2017, the program has identified enough people with intent to harm that the platform has a protocol for contacting emergency responders.

Worldwide, Facebook has identified 3,500 suicidal people who first responders have assisted. While some people praise the mental health scan, others worry that a data breach will expose sensitive personal information about users—without HIPPA protection. The European Union, however, has banned the algorithm. It has the toughest online privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Fast forward to the future after AI-operated robots have replaced thousands, if not millions in jobs, and there may be a silver lining, according to a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. The story in Interesting Engineering magazine outlined the multi-speaker event in which several company leaders asserted that AI will make life better in the near and far future.

Dr. IP Park, President of LG, told attendees at CES that their lives will improve through technology.

According to LG President & CTO IP Park, fully autonomous vehicles will remove the tedium and dangers of driving, allowing passengers to turn the interior into a workstation or a theater for entertainment. LG has provided an open source web OS so that developers will integrate its technology into an array of systems.

Park and Dr. Andrew NG of Landing AI, signed a strategic partnership agreement to work together at the conference.

Peter Diamandis, MD, Founder and Executive Chairman of XPRIZE, told the crowd that current conditions are right for AI development because worldwide conflicts are at an all-time low, life expectancy is way up, and extreme poverty is declining. He predicts that AI will accelerate that trend and eventually enable the extension of human life by 20 to 30 years.

For employers, AI can already help with the hiring process, according to a story in Fast Company magazine. HireVue screens job candidates during interviews on 25,000 data points, analyzing their words, voice and facial expressions. Three computer systems, chatbots, must analyze and approve an application for customer care positions before candidates can interview with humans at Hilton International.

“If I walked in and you were interviewing me for a job,” Hilton International CTO Loren Larsen says, “you’d be paying attention to the same things,” such as, “Are you friendly? Are you a good representation for our brand?” At least with an algorithm, he contends, recruiters work with a larger data set.

Larsen says one of HireVue’s principal goals has always been to remove bias in the hiring process.