Will AI and Machine learning take jobs?

Is it not interesting we have worried so much about this topic, but in the ongoing crisis - it was not AI that took jobs, but man-made events leading to a lethal virus. It is hard to believe that a $22 trillion economy (just including the U.S.) ground to a halt in a matter of days.

A good place to reflect on this was at Tech in Motion’s excellent Data Science & Machine learning panel last week with experts such as Google ‘s Elizabeth Owen, Twitter’s Alexis Roos, Vertica’s Curtis Bennett - and moderated by Elijah Young.

We could almost make the argument that AI actually helped people keep their jobs and continue to be productive during this crisis. We know that networks from Cable providers such as Comcast and Charter, Telcos such as AT&T and Verizon, and Data center companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft were critical during this time, to work from home. What is lesser known is the extent to which Automation and AI is used in the running and management of these networks. 

For example, today’s Cable DOCSIS plants as we traverse from the Core network to Headends, Hubs, Nodes, Taps and into customers’ homes and modems are extremely complex. There are hundreds of parameters that need to be monitored and controlled and it has gone past the scope of manual control; a combination of Automation, Analytics, and AI has to be employed to optimally run these networks and identify potential problems. Consider Wireless 4G networks where again hundreds of parameters need to be controlled in the span from Packet cores to Cloud RANs to Base stations to customers’ smartphones and laptops, which again have gone far beyond the scope of manual control.  

What about when we needed to access our Utility, Bank, Mortgage and other accounts during the crisis; we managed without visiting physical locations because around 50% of these companies are already using some form of AI and Robotic Process Automation for customer service and transactions. In stark contrast, we all heard how the online portals of state employment and IRS offices were crippled - part of the reason was out-of-date systems and hardly any Automation or AI.

Will AI and Machine learning make certain jobs and industries eventually redundant? 

Very likely, just like any other technology innovation did, from the printing press to the automobile to the smartphone. But we have far more looming problems to worry about. The world today is changing at a rapid pace and poses problems far beyond the scope of human control, such as the one we are going through. Even after we get past this current crisis, the next one - whether caused by a virus, or banking collapse, or credit crunch, or mortgage debt, or geopolitical tensions is probably not that far away. 

So, a more important question might be: Is there a way to harness the power of AI to make our enterprises and industries and Product Design and Development, Delivery models, and Supply chains more resilient? Can AI be leveraged to better plan, prepare, and predict - making our Communities, Financial strategies, Health-care systems, Cities, and Nations more resilient - so we come out less distressed to the other side.