Artificial intelligence is changing our world at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking. If you would have asked me a decade ago if I would live to see artificial intelligence create a world class piece of art or a full-length feature film, I would have said no way. But now those are simple tasks for artificial intelligence to accomplish. So what is going to happen once AI becomes millions of times smarter and millions of times more powerful than it is today? Given enough time, AI would take over every area of our lives. Our world is definitely crazy right now, but fifty years from now it would resemble something out of an extremely bizarre science fiction novel if AI is allowed to continue to develop at an exponential rate.
Unfortunately, only a very small minority of the population is even concerned about the potential dangers posed by AI, and that is a problem.
Needless to say, the growth of AI has enormous implications for our economy.
AI can already perform most simple tasks much better and much faster than human workers can, and multiple studies have concluded that millions of jobs are at risk of being lost. The following comes from Fox News…
For example, in March 2023, technology firm OpenAI released a report that found at least 80% of the U.S. labor force could have at least 10% of their work-related tasks affected by the introduction of GPT, while another 19% of employees may see at least 50% of these work-related tasks impacted. While GPT influence impacts all wage levels, the higher-income jobs potentially face the greatest exposure, concludes OpenAI.
Also in March 2023, researchers at investment banker Goldman Sachs, after collecting data on occupationally-oriented tasks in Europe and the U.S., found that roughly two-thirds of current occupations are exposed to varying degrees of generative AI automation (such as found in ChatGPT), and that AI could substitute for nearly one-fourth of current work performed.
In July 2023, the McKinsey Global Institute issued a report estimating that without generative AI, automation could take over tasks accounting for 21.5% of the hours worked in the U,S. economy by 2030; but with generative AI, that share increased to 29.5%.
So what would happen to all of the workers that would no longer be needed once AI starts taking over most of our jobs?
I think that is a question that all of us should be asking.