AI will bring big changes to business, but the impact on jobs may not be as bad as some predict.
This was an overall upbeat message to over 100 attendees at the latest Tees Business LIVE event, which focused on the potential impact of AI on the workplace.
Sponsored by Tease business Sponsored by Stockton-based digital and brand agency Ryze, it was held at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium and featured a Q&A session with a panel of experts including Ryze founder and CEO David Smith, Circle Cloud MD Tom Roberton, Peter Wilcock, VP of sales and marketing at AI data center company Latos, and Durata’s head of modular data center projects, Lewis Cobb.
And when co-hosting an event, Tease business Director Dave Allan asked the committee whether AI would replace jobs and what roles it might create instead, and all agreed on its positive potential.
Lewis Cobb said AI will “replace elements of the workload” while also increasing efficiency.
He told the meeting: “How does it make things more efficient? How does it sharpen our operations? It’s a great leveler.
“We’ve already seen that even people who don’t really know how to write emails to a certain standard professionally can still get support if they need it.”
And even outside of the business world, he felt that AI could literally be a lifesaver.
he said: “I don’t like the proposition, ‘Oh, it’s just going to replace jobs,’ because the other side of that is, ‘What does this do to our bottom line?’
“The reality is that it will save lives. It will help us find drugs and treatments for things like dementia and cancer. There are many possibilities.
“What scared people a few years ago, and may still scare people now, is the idea of a digital twin. I have a digital twin that is me down to the molecule, and I can take a drug test before I actually take a drug test.
“But why are we against it? We lose family members every year. So it’s all a matter of perspective. As humans, we like to see the negative.
“The reality is there are a lot of positives. We just need to change our perspective.”
Circle Cloud’s Tom Roberton said that the “smart approach for many companies” is to believe that AI can help improve productivity, “to bring out the best in each individual in the business, and to have the best and brightest people in the business leverage AI and learn how to use it.”
Predicting that demand for data skills jobs will further increase, he said: “Ultimately, those who develop patience and learn how to use these AI tools will be more competitive in the job market.
“So rather than a lot of jobs being lost, we’re probably going to see some delay in hiring because the individuals in their businesses can actually do more.
“But the flip side of this argument is that if companies were more accepting of technology, they would grow faster in the market and may actually see faster adoption.”
David Smith also didn’t think there would be large-scale job displacement, but he predicted that it would “change the shape of companies, and perhaps companies will start to build different structures.”
“Right now, AI takes a lot of the work off of you. When you hire someone to do something, the high-value work that they do is what you want them to do the most.”
“There’s always some low-value aspect of their work, which means you can’t work on the most valuable parts.
“I think that’s probably where AI will come in and help alleviate some of that.”
And while predicting a rise in the price of AI, he added: “We have to remember that AI is cheap now and everyone is jumping on it and relying on it.
“But all of a sudden that price goes up, so we’re reaching a critical mass, and that’s why the investment amount in the AI industry right now is much higher than the return amount.
“So if prices actually rise and companies decide that deploying AI is not cheaper than hiring people, it might ‘settle down’ a little bit. AI will not necessarily replace AI.”
And Peter Wilcock felt that the important thing to remember is that AI is controlled by humans.
“It’s an exaggeration right now, but the important thing is that AI is a tool, and we are in charge of that tool,” he said.
“The difference between children who achieve their ambitions and those who don’t is their ability to use AI, not the other way around.
“So it doesn’t matter what school you went to or what your background is. Once you get good at facilitating AI, there are no barriers anymore, which is great.
“This is a tool that ultimately gives us control.”
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