AI agents represent the next evolutionary leap beyond generative AI, capable of taking autonomous action rather than just responding to prompts.
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I feel like, at this point, just about everyone has heard something to the effect of “robots will take our jobs” or even the extreme thought “robots will take over the world.” I even hear it being brought up in casual conversation like, “In 10 years I should be at a good place in my career, as long as AI doesn’t take my job that is.” This is a thought that has been mainstreamed for a while and frightens many individuals, but is it worth fearing? Is there something else worth fearing and were simply fearing the wrong thing?
Dr. Jay Richards addresses this fear in a lecture titled “Will Smart Machines Take Our Jobs”. In this lecture, he describes this common fear as a dystopian or utopian way of thinking. Instead of combining science and facts together to come to a conclusion, many people are combining science and fiction together and coming to the conclusion that, yes, robots will take our jobs and eventually they will take over the world. This, however, is not very realistic. Firstly, we should all know that robots aren’t as complex as humans. Humans can do “complex” tasks such as picking up 1,000 different objects, shaped and weighing differently, (not at the same time of course) and moving them from place to place. Not to mention, humans also have very complex emotions. It takes a lot of programming, and therefore a lot of money, to be able to make a robot that can do these complex tasks. It is just not realistic, at this point in development, to think that there will soon be a robot that can do every single job that a human does now. Personally, I can’t see AI taking over jobs like a caretaker, housekeeper, surgeon, veterinarian, police officer, or any of the trades (to name a few) any time soon. These are positions that involve many complexities, one being complex judgment. Not only this but for, let’s say, robot surgeons to replace human surgeons, the general public would have to accept this. I think it would be hard for an individual to trust a robotic surgeon to perform life-saving heart surgery and thus, the idea just wouldn’t take off (at least not quickly). So, I do think that there are a number of jobs that are very safe from AI replacement.
Besides this, another reason why this thought about AI taking all our jobs is not realistic is because no matter what, there will always be jobs to do. Just because a way of doing something is innovated, doesn’t mean it removes any possibility of a job. As Dr. Jay Richards notes, if this were the case, all of human history would be a story of how we have fewer jobs now than we did in, let’s say, 1700. This, however, isn’t the case. With an increase in innovation, we can see that there has been an increase in available jobs. For example, the Pony Express was a mail delivery service used in the early 1860s. At the time, this was probably one of the quickest ways for mail to be delivered. With the development of the transcontinental telegraph line, which allowed for even quicker communication, came the end of the Pony Express. This then led to many other technological mail delivery/ communication advances that led up to what we know today. Where the Pony Express only allowed for probably less than 100 jobs, now the postal services employ about 525,469 people according to the USPS website. To sum up this example, with the advancement of technology, came a much larger number of possible jobs. Because one job could be simplified, it allowed more resources to be used for other things.
With all of this being said, yes, I do think that in the years to come, AI could take some unskilled labor jobs. This is because of the efficiency a robot can offer along with their durability. This has already begun to happen. A common example that has been argued over is the use of automated self-checkouts in grocery stores which have replaced many human cashiers. This replacement of laborers can, of course, force some people to become unemployed, some of whom may have only worked as unskilled labor workers for their whole life. In the example of someone working in a position like this their whole lives, it can be difficult for them to find another job. This, however, is not an issue of technology taking every job and forcing humans to stop working. Again, as Dr. Jay Richards highlights, it is actually an issue of how fast technology and we as a society are advancing. This is what we should fear. Overall, entrepreneurs finding ways for a job to be completed more efficiently is a good thing that can open up even more jobs and possibilities that we don’t yet know are possible. The pace at which technology displaces people though is scary and needs to be thought about more extensively than “will robots take over our jobs”.
In conclusion, yes, I do think that some jobs will replace human laborers with AI in the years to come. This has already started happening in the world. However, I do not think that AI will take every job and leave us with nothing to do, much less do I think that this is what should be at the forefront of our minds. This thought is just a twist of science and fiction that many people believe. We should instead be thinking of the pace at which this change is happening and how that can affect us.
Works Cited
Marr, B. (2024a, May 15). Hype Or Reality: Will AI Really Take Over Your Job?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/05/15/hype-or-reality-will-ai-really-take-over-your-job/
Marr, B. (2024b, June 17). What Jobs Will AI Replace First?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/06/17/what-jobs-will-ai-replace-first/
Pope, N. (1992, June). The Story of the Pony Express. National Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research/articles-from-enroute/the-story-of-the-pony-express.html
