Artificial Intelligence (AI) does not start with robotics and end with empty office spaces. AI, on the contrary, will create more jobs, opportunities, and transformational change in the corporate world based on 4IR and leadership that knows how to blend the digital world and talent.
Wyoming, Oct 24, 2024 – Amid the rise of robotics, drones, and AI in particular, prominent voices have joined the pro-and-contra discussion. Concerns are increasingly expressed publicly. “The generative AI market is poised to explode, growing to US$1.3 trillion over the next 10 years from a market size of just $40 billion in 2022″, according to a new report by Bloomberg Intelligence. Generative AI describes the use of artificial intelligence to produce texts, images, or videos, and will bring about transformational change.
Earlier this year, when the countdown for U.S. presidential elections was on, the Washington Post reported the New Hampshire Justice Department was investigating robocalls. These featured what appeared to be an AI-generated voice that sounded like President Biden. AI destabilizes the concept of truth itself,” the Washington Post quoted Libby Lange, an analyst at the misinformation tracking organization Graphika. Turkish President Erdogan condemned an audio recording 10 years ago that suggested his alleged involvement in financial wrongdoing, which he said was generated by artificial intelligence, Al Jazeera reported in March this year.
Even the Holy Father in Rome joined the discussion. Algorithms are “neither objective nor neutral”, Pope Francis said in mid-June 2024, the official Vatican News Agency reported. But the biggest fear among employees is often only expressed over lunch and an after-work drink: “Will AI take my job?”
Digital Déjà vu
The ongoing public discussions about whether or not AI will be transformational change and convert offices into wastelands remind a bit of the similar discourses in the early 1980s, that era which marked the rise of the home computer.
Parents and teachers were worried that students would stop learning. Sociologists warned of unprecedented disruptions for the future of work and “technological unemployment”. The 1986 Hollywood cult movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ” showcases how a high school boy who notoriously feigns illness can misuse the home PC to serve his shenanigans.
Nowadays, we know that the companions on desks and their equipment, like handy floppy disks, noisy dot matrix printers, and oh so futuristic looking light pens, created in the east and the west, a job boom that lasted until the internet bubble popped in early 2000.
So what about the year 2024 and the disrupted Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)? Will AI replace professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers?
The impact of artificial intelligence on jobs is complex and multifaceted. On the one hand, AI can automate repetitive tasks, which may lead to job displacement in specific sectors. For example, manufacturing and data entry roles are particularly vulnerable. On the other hand, AI can also create new jobs. These are likely to appear in tech, data analysis, and fields that require human creativity and emotional intelligence.
Moreover, AI can enhance existing roles, allowing workers to focus on higher-level tasks and decision-making. In many cases, technology can increase productivity, potentially leading to economic growth and the creation of new industries.
Overall, the net effect of AI on jobs will depend on how organizations and societies adapt to this transformational change. Investment in retraining and creating new opportunities will be crucial. It’s likely a mix of both job creation and destruction, with an emphasis on the need for adaptability. AI developments in May 2025 will fuel the next AI boom.
Across the board
Several industries are poised to benefit significantly from artificial intelligence:
- Healthcare: AI can enhance diagnostics, personalize treatment plans, and streamline administrative processes. It also aids in drug discovery and managing patient data. This will help doctors and nurses to treat more efficiently. Mistakes when treating patients can be reduced thanks to AI.
- Finance: AI is used for risk assessment, fraud detection, algorithmic trading, and personalized financial services, improving efficiency and decision-making. Financial professionals will not be replaced; instead, investors, fund managers, and controllers who understand 4IR will prevail.
- Retail: AI enhances customer experiences through personalized recommendations, inventory management, and demand forecasting, optimizing supply chains. While robots will replace some cashiers, new jobs will emerge to monitor, supervise, and maintain AI-driven groceries and boutiques.
- Manufacturing: Predictive maintenance, quality control, and automation of production lines can increase efficiency and reduce downtime. This means the education of engineers needs re-engineering. 4IR and AI in particular have become the main subjects of the new curriculum at any college or university.
- Transportation: AI drives advancements in autonomous vehicles, traffic management, and logistics optimization, improving safety and efficiency. Again, street traffic control rooms cannot be wholly given over to robots. Instead, specialists who understand the software and technology behind AI from all angles are needed.
- Marketing and Advertising: AI enables targeted advertising, customer segmentation, and content optimization, helping businesses reach the right audience more effectively. The media industry has, of course, suffered due to
- Education: Personalized learning experiences, automated grading, and administrative support can enhance educational outcomes and operational efficiency. Robots will never replace the human teacher. However, the latter can use augmented reality to bring students closer to imagination and scenario thinking than printed lines in a book.
- Agriculture: AI aids in precision farming, crop monitoring, and yield prediction, helping farmers optimize resources and improve productivity.
- Energy: AI enhances grid management, predictive maintenance for equipment, and energy consumption forecasting, resulting in more efficient energy use. Skilled experts still have to develop and assess the technologies as mentioned earlier. Thus, the sector will continue to require humans.
- Telecommunications: AI can enhance network management, predictive maintenance, and customer service, leading to improved reliability and customer satisfaction. AI can help improve cybersecurity through self-learning mechanisms, voice recognition, and by storing vast amounts of biometric data. It checks on the latter at stop-watch speed.
AI-Focused Leadership
All the aforementioned industries, as different as they may look, require one common element, namely leadership. The AI-focused leadership brings robotics, drones, IoT, augmented, and immersive technologies into transformational change. He or she will encounter hopes and fears through a proactive dialogue with his or her staff. This motivates both newbies and experienced workers to embrace 4IR, rather than shunning it.
Each of these industries can leverage AI to improve processes, reduce costs, and enhance decision-making, enabling a transformative force across the board.
Ironically, the early 1980s were also marked by high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. Chances are high that history will just repeat itself, and we will enter a new era of job growth and unprecedented innovation thanks to AI.
