The robots will release humans to do more value added, productive and fulfilling tasks

There are certain things we all do on an ongoing basis without even thinking about it: whether it’s sending out routine emails, updating spreadsheets, filing expenses or scheduling strings of meetings, we probably just accept them as an inevitable day-to-day part of our jobs. We let them gradually eat up our time, taking us away from our real strengths and passions… but do we have to?

The rapid growth of AI might mean getting them off our to-do lists for good. If you’re doing something repetitive and low skilled regularly, there’s a good chance that the time to hand it over to robots could be nigh. Those few minutes or more you spend every day could amount to hours of saved time, freeing you up to invest your own abilities better.

How does AI do this? Well, that’s simple – it learns from us. If we can do it, the same way time after time, so can artificial intelligence. It’s ideally suited to those repetitive, low-skill, simple tasks we’re all bogged down by. As technology spreads and some jobs become obsolete – with investment in retraining obviously being essential – even greater opportunities for innovation will be created by innovation itself. It’s already revolutionising manufacturing, with new levels of automation changing how factories look forever.

Just think: how wonderful could the world be, if we were all (let’s say) 25% more effective at what we do best? While we could worry about lost jobs, those same worries cropped up around the time of the 19th century Industrial Revolution. Now, we’re doing jobs and working in industries that would have been unimaginable 200 years ago. Research by Ernest & Young has reported that ‘organisations enabling AI at the enterprise level are increasing operational efficiency, making faster, more informed decisions and innovating new products and services.’

As the World Economic Forum points out, calculators didn’t replace mathematicians – and who’d want to turn back time to working out every bits of maths long form on paper?! Once upon a time, ‘Calculator’ was an actual job title – now the people with those amazing abilities can really push the boundaries of their area of expertise with increased time freed up.

Especially with increasing skills shortages in high demand areas, and with many businesses tied up by strict budgets, businesses could make massive cost savings by passing some tasks over to automation, and invest their money in what their business does best. Forbes has suggested that this could especially impact on small businesses, who can’t offer the ‘scale, efficiency or sophistication’ of their large-scale competitors. Instead, they need to focus on the ‘things that directly influence how the customer feels about the business and its offerings’ – what makes going to them a better experience. Innovation and ideas are innately human offerings, and abilities that we’d all do well to value.

A move to a more automated world, with AI driving us to greater levels of efficiency, could open the door to a more unique, enjoyable and easier experience for workers, businesses and consumers. What could it mean to let go of our preconceptions about jobs lost, and embrace a world where all our jobs are better instead?