SP's: Artificial Intelligence is exploding on the scene today. What would be its impacts on the future of professions? Could we be seeing a new crop of doctors, lawyers, and architects?
The popular notion that machines are better off doing mechanized work and humans will always triumph the intellectual arena could be in a process of taking a serious hit in near future. Thanks to the rapid advancement in Artificial Intelligence, the machines today are not just the pile driving and hammering skeletons of metal but have crept in almost all spheres of human life.
Well, machines taking over is still and always be a contentious topic (until we reach a tipping point) but robots showing self-awareness, self-driving vehicles, our regular digital assistants (Siri and Cortana) are a few examples that robots have not just eased humans from the industrial repetition but also from other employment avenues as well.
Richard Susskind, UK government advisor along with his son Daniel Susskind, a lecturer at Oxford University have authored an upcoming book The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts. In the book, they have drawn a conclusion based on economic and sociological theory after interviewing hundreds of people that Artificial Intelligence will dramatically transform the middle-class working landscape.
Now, if that is anything near to the truth, then it could be as worse as an AI coup. Since the machines are now able to grasp chess and become a grandmaster in just 72 hours, the general wondering that how soon they will enter into the operation theaters, courtrooms, or become a consulting architect.
Susskinds believe that only the best and the most skilled professionals in all fields will survive this replacement tide. And as it has always been, Darwin will again come into account in this battle of species.
The doubts that, “will robots be able to perform such intricate tasks which require phenomenal cognizance, perception, intellect and of course, ethical integrity” will definitely be on the minds of people. No one would mind robots fighting for their country on the battlefront, but everyone would be skeptical of a machine operating on them, or trusting a robot to win their case. Worse, how would you make a robot understand what style of house you want.
Only if a robot could read our minds, right? But listen to this, AI is now capable of prognosticating. So you won’t have to guide them much with instructions.
Now as for their capability, machines could get the information and gain all the knowledge pertaining to a subject in a matter of time (much less than it takes for a human to become an expert). The robot could study and infer from all the case studies, learn all the operative methods and do it with precision as well, and build exquisite designs for you (it would even know if the ground you have chosen is safe or not and design according to that!!).
Susskinds mentions that humans have long been the “gatekeepers” of the knowledge and not everyone has been benefitted by this fact. The selectivity in disseminating the information hurts a major strata of people. So, robots coming into the picture might be welcomed. No doubt, it would raise concerns over employment.
The progress in AI development will only gain momentum in coming years. Since we have significant information on the subject, what do you think should be the human strategy for the future?
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