Over the past two decades, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have made great strides and found applications in fields ranging from healthcare and environmental monitoring to fraud detection. However, AI has historically struggled to replicate human creativity. Recent breakthroughs such as the emergence of large-scale language models such as ChatGPT and generative models such as Stable Diffusion and DALL-E have changed this. AI is expected to have a major impact on nearly every aspect of our lives, including areas previously thought to be exclusive to human intelligence.
The purpose of this article is to explore two key questions. First, what impact will these new developments in AI have on the job market? Second, what are the implications of broadly adopting AI among underrepresented groups? Examination provides insight into the potential opportunities and challenges arising from the increasing integration of AI into society.
Throughout human history, new disruptive technologies have dictated demand for certain skills in the labor market, creating many new jobs instead of making certain jobs obsolete.In 2020, the World Economic Forum , predicted that AI will replace up to 85 million jobs worldwide, while creating 97 million new ones. The belief at the time was that the jobs being lost would mostly involve low-skilled, repetitive types of jobs, and that new jobs would require strong analytical and problem-solving skills. There has been a definite shift in these types of predictions since the advent of generative AI. OpenAI’s own report predicts that even high-paying tech jobs are likely to be affected. Goldman Sachs predicts that 300 million of his jobs will be lost or reduced worldwide as a result of generative AI. What is surprising about these projections is that, perhaps for the first time in history, white-collar office jobs, not blue-collar jobs, will be affected by new technologies. But not all are pessimistic. Many analysts, including ChatGPT’s Sam Altman, predict that many new jobs will be created as a result of this technology. With the need to acquire new skills growing faster than ever, it is clear that we need to constantly reinvent ourselves to take on new roles and be more creative and productive.
Regarding the job market, it is unclear how these new technologies will affect underrepresented groups. However, certain jobs, like computer programmers, could be democratized. Early computer programmers needed a deep understanding of how every aspect of a computer worked. This changed with the invention of high-level programming languages like Java. Modern computer programmers don’t need to understand computer hardware in detail. Most programmers need only a good understanding of programming concepts and proficiency in advanced programming languages. Now, with the advent of tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, developers can increasingly rely on tools that generate code automatically, giving them time to focus on higher-level tasks. Despite the challenges, there are signs. Such a trend could also be seen as lowering the barriers to entry for many software building jobs, making it more accessible to underrepresented groups. In short, a product specialist could specify a set of features that could lead to the automatic construction of the corresponding software components, or the construction of an entire system using 3D printing technology. Humanity must educate itself in the right ways to harness and unleash the power of technology.
Forecasts should be interpreted loosely. If history teaches us anything, predictions about how new technologies will change the world are rarely accurate. Take the dotcom boom, for example. No one in the 1990s could have predicted that the Internet would have such a powerful positive and negative impact on our lives.
In conclusion, we need to address the potential negative impact of AI on underrepresented groups and minorities. When AI is used to make important decisions that affect an individual’s life, such as job search, justice system, loan eligibility, etc., it is imperative to ensure that the system is not unfairly biased towards any particular group. is. Unfortunately, biases are often present in AI systems because they are inherently biased in the data they are trained on, reflecting social prejudices.
Addressing fairness in AI has become an important and active area of research. It is important to ensure that the widespread adoption of AI systems does not perpetuate or amplify existing social biases. Furthermore, AI systems exhibit emergent properties. This means that you may see unintended behavior or biases that were not explicitly programmed. It is therefore imperative that humans understand and use this powerful technology in a safe and reliable manner.
The article was written by Dr.PVR Murthy, Professor and HOD, Department of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
