Is AI really a job killer? These experts say no. (Source: Adobe Stock)

Writer Questions Dual Authors About AI’s Current, Future Effect on the Job Market

If you believe all the doom and gloom in the news today, you might think automation and deploying AI-enabled systems at work will replace scores of jobs worldwide.

But management and technology experts Thomas Davenport and Steven Miller argue that AI is not a job destroyer — no matter what other predictions might say. Yes, AI and intelligent technology will take over some jobs, but that will free up workers to do more challenging and essential work.

Tom and Steven recently completed a book on this topic called Working with AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration.

Bernard Marr is the writer of the article for forbes.com and his discussion with these authors shines a brighter light on the good that AI will do in most of the world’s workplaces. Here is a sample of their response to Marr’s questions.

How AI Will Impact the Workplace

That is a broad question to be sure but Davenport and Miller jumped right in.

“People will need to embrace digital and intelligent technologies if they’re going to be successful in their jobs,” Tom shared. “I worked with a radiologist in the Boston area who also has a Ph.D. in AI. And he kept saying, ‘The only radiologists who are gonna lose their jobs to AI are those who refuse to work with AI.’”

Companies Must Be Ready

As jobs get augmented, amplified, and transformed, Steven and Tom both encourage companies to create thoughtful strategies about where the technology is going, and what kinds of skills and capabilities are needed.

Understanding what work will be done by digital workers, what needs to be done by human beings, and how the two will relate will be the key to maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace of the future.

Marr included a video of his interview in the article as well.

Tom also predicted that AI is unlikely to be able to compete with humans in contextual understanding — at least, not anytime soon. One of his favorite examples is the online personal styling company StitchFix.

“AI helps create styling recommendations for customers, but they also have human stylists…the customer sends in notes sometimes about the context of their clothing needs. They’ll say, ‘I’m going to a wedding and my ex will be there” and the computers don’t understand that yet. Humans will be able to pick out an alluring dress for the woman to wear.”

This brings up still more questions that only time will be able to answer.

read more at forbes.com