Automation and the End of Work

AI in the workplace is a real threat to employees.

The world of work is rapidly changing. Jobs that were once done by humans can now be done by computers, and it’s not just manual labor jobs that are affected. The increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence means that even high-level knowledge workers’ jobs are under threat.

We’re already beginning to see the effects: in a recent survey of over 2,000 professionals conducted by HBR, 52% reported feeling threatened by automation (even though only 13% said they had been replaced so far). And 33% said their job was at risk within five years from now. In this article we’ll explore what the future might look like when robots take over our workplaces; how AI could change society as a whole; and what we can do about it, if anything.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Artificial Intelligence is intelligence exhibited by either a machine or a software application. AI has been around for quite some time but only in the last few decades has it advanced to the point where some machines can outstrip the general human population in certain tasks, such as chess playing and basic arithmetic. Even though the field of artificial intelligence is just now entering its third generation, it’s still very much an emerging field with many outstanding problems that need solving for any sort of generalized artificial intelligence…