Rather than bring about Terminator-style extinction, proponents say artificial intelligence could help transform society with a host of applications that will help businesses and people.
That's the argument made by Brent Orrell, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, who spoke to Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce members at the Fort Worth Club on June 13.
“I think people appreciate that in Hollywood, we've been trained to accept that AI will deliver Terminator-like endings,” he told The Fort Worth Report.
As companies adopt AI in various forms to boost productivity and take over routine tasks, human resources is the first department to use it to free up employees for more important tasks, Aurel said.
“AI never tires of looking at resumes,” Aurel said, adding that the application can help better categorize candidates in certain areas. “HR professionals are the quickest adaptors.”
AI can also help companies develop customized learning platforms to aid in education, he said.
For example, AI can help students learn how to read by using soothing voices that read to children and help them understand pronunciation, grammar, and sentence structure.
“You can teach kids geometry,” said Aurel, who served as deputy assistant secretary for policy and external affairs at the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services under former President George W. Bush and is editor of the book “Minding Our Workforce: The Role in Noncognitive Skills in Career Success.”
The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy think tank, studies applications of AI with the goal of expanding human potential to increase opportunity for individuals and strengthen the free enterprise system. Aurel's research focuses on expanding opportunities for people through improved job preparation and training, and on improving the criminal justice system through rehabilitation and prisoner re-entry programs.
Orell said companies are most often using AI to accomplish routine tasks, allowing employees to focus on more important work.
“It's going to permeate everything,” he said.
Companies are now trying to strike a balance between using AI to increase productivity while also impacting employment, but it's a delicate balance, Aurel said.
“Other parts of the economy are trying to find solutions,” he said.
According to a University of Pennsylvania study, about 80% of U.S. workers could see at least 10% of their jobs affected by the introduction of AI to reduce repetitive tasks. Another 20% would see at least half of their jobs change. State governments are beginning to respond to this challenge, with Republican State Assemblyman Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, Texas, spearheading AI policy development in the state.
As the industry awaits further regulation, employers are now focusing on workers' non-cognitive skills such as resilience, communication, conscientiousness, initiative, adaptability and flexibility, rather than their writing, reading, science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills.
“For the future workforce, mastery and acquisition of both technical and non-cognitive skills will lead to long-term success and flexibility in the future job market,” the institute says in promotional materials.
The institute said that sectors with a high probability of automation due to AI are seeing an increasing share of employment for more highly skilled workers, and that having in-demand skills remains the “best defense” against job losses.
Orell said he uses AI “all the time” in his research.
“AI is going to really bring out the key takeaways,” he said.
He said the expansion of technology won't replace human workers, and workers should think about “how can AI help me?”
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.orgAt Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board of directors and financial backers. Learn more about our editorial independence policy here. here.
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