Artificial Intelligence and the Jevons Paradox
Dr. Albert Schram
Transforming Education Through Effective Strategy Execution, Innovative Pedagogy, and Technology. Executive Coach.
By Lilian Piovesana, May 2023.
1. Introduction
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term used to describe the ability of a computer or machine to think, learn, and problem-solve in a way that simulates human intelligence. Since AI can handle a variety of human operations, it makes task completion more efficient. When used correctly, AI can have an enormous effect on human intelligence, economics, productivity, working lives, new innovations, and even educational systems. The amount of knowledge that Artificial intelligence machines hold, can help every individual in their school or working life. This help that the AI is giving to humans will have an enormous effect on the economy, because if used correctly it will increase drastically the efficiency of the rate of doing a task, in work and?schools. Here we start to introduce the Jevons Paradox, a statement of economics that shows how efficiency has a negative and positive aspect on the economy and on the planet.
2. The Jevons Paradox
Jevons Paradox, also known as the rebound effect, was created by the young English Economist William Stanley Jevons, is an economic principle that suggests that increases in efficiency can lead to an increase in consumption, thereby offsetting the gains made by the efficiency improvements. In the context of AI, Jevons Paradox implies that as AI systems become more efficient at performing tasks, they may actually increase the demand for those tasks, leading to increased consumption of resources.
For example, if an AI system is built that can automate a specific operation, such as data input or customer support, that work will have a higher demand as it becomes less expensive and easier to accomplish. This increasing demand may result in even more data being entered or more customer service interactions, which may result in greater energy consumption, data storage, and other resource requirements. This becomes very damaging from the environmental point of view of economics.
Ultimately, the application of Jevons Paradox to AI highlights the need for careful consideration of the potential unintended consequences of technological advancements and the importance of taking a proactive approach to address these issues.
2a. Changes in Education and the Work Place
As said before, AI can increase the efficiency of many tasks, making it easier to perform those tasks, therefore, leading to an increase in demand.?
Therefore, the fear that many suffer when saying that Artificial Intelligence will substitute jobs is not true. In fact, it will increase the demand for jobs done by AI because the work process has become easier and faster. AI isn’t substituting humans and their intelligence, it’s helping them finish a task much faster and more efficiently. We can see this happening in the workspace. The traditional origination workflow consists of each step of the process using human interaction, which could slow and interrupt the process when there is some problem with the workers. Instead, when machine learning is applied to data and has the information of the workspace it can predict outcomes and automate processes. This facilitates the work tasks. The figure below shows the difference between workspaces, with and without AI.?
When looking at AI in schools it can have both positive and negative impacts on resource usage, which is the core concept of the Jevons Paradox, like in the workspace. AI can optimize resource usage in schools, such as by automating tasks or providing personalized learning instruments for students. This can lead to efficiency gains and reduce resource usage, therefore an optimal solution. The application of AI, however, can lead to an increase in resource consumption. For example, the use of AI-powered educational software and tools can lead to an increase in electricity usage and data storage needs. Additionally, as AI becomes more integrated into education, there may be an increase in demand for technology devices and other resources, leading to a rebound effect.
2b. Drawbacks
Artificial intelligence is becoming our future, but there are also some negative aspects to be aware of, that can affect society and especially environmentally for the planet. AI Systems unfortunately can inherit biased data. This often occurs in workspaces when software has to decide important decisions based on facts for example job interviews, resumes, firing, and who to give a raise to. This is very common that in 2014, a team of software engineers at Amazon were building a program to review the resumes of job applicants. Unfortunately, in 2015 they realised that systems discriminated against women for technical roles. Amazon workers did not use the software to evaluate candidates because of these discrimination and fairness issues. This is seen as a negative aspect but is just a fear that many have. AI won't entirely replace humans any time soon. Artificial Intelligence is supposed to help humans in their lives. Although jobs are transforming as AI becomes more accessible. Another problem is security risks. By giving so much information to systems and machines about an industry or school system it’s probable that they are some leaks of information. Instead, humans sign a security pact when entering the job and if broken they lose it. The disadvantage of AI is that there isn’t really a document to sign giving a promise not to leak information, it’s artificial.?
Overall, in the workspace, AI systems are very helpful and efficient. It’s important for every individual to understand that AI is just computer systems, not humans, so we can’t give our trust in them. From the point of view of environmental economics,?
AI systems also raise sustainability concerns linked to the natural resources they consume such as electricity and water and the carbon emissions they produce.
2c. A real-life example
We have discussed Artificial intelligence, how it’s applied to the Jevons Paradox, its role in school and work, and the negative impacts of it; but now we need to set in place all the information read above in a real-life example of how Artificial intelligence is applied to the Jevons Paradox and the consequences of it.
One real-life example of AI applied to the Jevons Paradox is the use of automated customer service chatbots. Chatbots are AI-powered systems that can answer customer inquiries and provide assistance without the need for human intervention. As chatbots have become more sophisticated and efficient, they have become increasingly popular in a wide range of industries, from e-commerce to banking to healthcare even in schools. Now the effect of the increase in efficiency of these chatbots is both negative and positive.
The information contained in these chatbots is so rich and precise that students and workers are turning to these to help with their tasks. For example, many IB students when they have a precise question that Google doesn’t answer for them would ask Chatbots for information and in every case Chatbots answer with complete answers to their question highlighting points that google or any search device couldn’t point out. However, there are also some downsides when students don’t use AI appropriately and instead, for example, decide to make chatbots write their entire essays.?
However, since chatbots have helped greatly with the efficiency of completing a task it has also led to an increase in the volume of users. Another example is customer service interactions now moving into the workspace. Customers who may not have previously contacted help owing to the inconvenience of waiting on hold may now want to employ chatbots instead. This increasing demand for customer service contacts may result in a rebound effect, in which the benefits realised by the chatbot's efficiency are negated by a rise in resource utilisation.
Even thinking from the point of view of environmental economics, the Jevons Paradox, in the context of AI chatbots, to have a more environmentally friendly system companies can focus on developing energy-efficient machines, or set a limit of how much these chatbots can be used. There are solutions to the problems of AI, it’s crucial to find the right balance between depending on AI and letting it help you in tasks.
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, Artificial Intelligence is a rapidly developing field with the potential to revolutionize the way we work, learn, and live. While AI can offer significant benefits such as increased efficiency, there are also potential negative consequences that must be considered, such as the Jevons Paradox and its impact on resource consumption, biased data, and security risks. It's important to take a proactive approach to address these issues, finding a balance between AI dependence and human oversight. As AI continues to advance, it's critical that we consider its potential impact on the environment, society, and the economy, ensuring that we use this technology in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Bibliography?
(footnotes were omitted in this version)
Master of Arts - MA at St.Edward's University
6 个月We need to collectively opt-in for an autonomous “Yellow Team” once it begins to harvest accurate theories of mind.
Senior Legal Counsel | AXA-ARAG Legal Protection Insurance
1 年According to me the Jevons Paradox/rebound effect is a very underestimated aspect in the midst of the (Gen)AI Hype Albert Schram, Ph.D.