Ford, M. (2013). Viewpoint: Could Artificial Intelligence Create an Unemployment Crisis?. Communications Of The ACM, 56(7), 37-39. doi:10.1145/2483852.2483865 (MACKENZIE STENGER)

From Digital Culture & Society

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-	This article argues that although the ongoing development of artificial technology may dissolve many jobs that it will also create new jobs in the process. The authors outline that there will the 3 types of new jobs created with the implementation of artificial intelligence across all industries: trainers, explainers, and sustainers. Trainers job description will revolve around teaching artificial intelligence empathy. This is so that an artificial intelligence system will one day be able to talk people through a difficult situation or problem in a socially acceptable manner. An example for this would be when a consumer calls for customer service, in the future an artificial intelligence system will take over this customer service role, and are projected to be able to interact with consumers and solve customer service issues in a professional and courteous manner. A position within this field would be a customer-language tone and meaning trainer, a smart-machine interaction modeller and a worldview trainer.Explainers will be responsible for explaining the technological algorithms to non-technical people. An example of when explainers will be needed is, if an artificial intelligence system makes a mistake and a consumer is affected negatively because of it, then it is the explainers job to explain to the consumer what went wrong and how the organization plans on handling the situation. Not everyone understands the technical complexities that are involved in artificial intelligence therefore it will be necessary to have explainers once artificial intelligence is more thoroughly integrated within society. An example of possible positions within this field include: a context designer, a transparency analyst, and an artificial intelligence strategist. Finally the third type of job that will be created is sustainers, this type of role will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the artificial intelligence, mainly to ensure that the system is working efficiently and as intended. It was found in a survey that very few companies have a high degree of confidence in using artificial intelligence systems, therefore this type of position will ease those concerns as the artificial intelligence will be constantly monitored by a human. An example of a sustainers position would be an ethics compliance manager, in this position employees will be expected to monitor and ensure that the artificial intelligence is working in compliance with industry ethics as well as the organizations individual moral and ethical values. Some of the positions within this field would include, an automation ethicist, an automation economist and a machine relations manager. Once artificial intelligence is implemented within the general workforce all three of these jobs will be required across all industries on a large scale.	+	This article uses many past and present examples of technological advances throughout time in order to predict how artificial intelligence will affect the workforce. This article argues that advancements in artificial intelligence is reason to warrant concern regarding employment rates. The vast majority of jobs worked by humans are predictable and repetitive (this is not to be confused with easy), therefore the vast majority of jobs can be broken down into a set of tasks and hierarchies that can be programmed into an artificial intelligence system. Then the job/tasks can be completed by artificial intelligence instead of paying a human fair wages to complete the job. Therefore, in theory is the majority of jobs can be replaced by artificial intelligence then the majority of the workforce will be out of a job, resulting in an unemployment crisis. The author uses examples throughout history in order to reinforce the idea that artificial intelligence will displace a large majority of the workforce. For example when many of the jobs in the agriculture and automobile industry were automated, millions of jobs were destroyed. Also taking into consideration that many of the workers that will be or have been displaced by technology are generally less educated and maintain lower wage jobs. Therefore, technological advances and artificial intelligences ability to take over outline jobs means that people currently working in these positions will either need to find a job that will not cannot be threatened by technology or they will have to move from industry to industry in order to maintain a repetitive, lower wage job. The fear is that with the implementation of artificial intelligence into the workforce there won't be enough of the low wage, repetitive jobs which are crucial to our economy and for the wellbeing of the masses. Therefore, technology is depleting the middle class jobs and creating a polarized job market, by leaving only low wage, low education jobs or high wage, high education jobs. By depleting the middle class jobs, many people will not have a job at all as there will not be enough employment for all of society, and those that do find jobs will likely be over educated and over qualified for their positions.
-		+	Examples of how artificial intelligence is already beginning to displace workers are: lawyers and paralegals are being replaced by online resources, fast food service positions are being taken over by artificial intelligence (example: McDonalds, Starbucks, etc.), and the automation of store check outs (example: Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, etc.).
-	This article was very specific, it outlined individually the general roles and responsibilities that will be required of each new job, as well as a list of possible positions within all 3 types of jobs. The author broke down the article in a very clear and organized manner, therefore the article was easy to read, and very thorough.	+	This is a very strong article that discusses many specific examples throughout time. The author thoroughly uses examples throughout history to prove the legitimacy of their argument that artificial intelligence will create an employment crisis. The author also used present day examples of how artificial intelligence is taking over jobs and quietly integrating itself into our everyday lives.
	Mackenzie Stenger		Mackenzie Stenger

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Current revision

This article uses many past and present examples of technological advances throughout time in order to predict how artificial intelligence will affect the workforce. This article argues that advancements in artificial intelligence is reason to warrant concern regarding employment rates. The vast majority of jobs worked by humans are predictable and repetitive (this is not to be confused with easy), therefore the vast majority of jobs can be broken down into a set of tasks and hierarchies that can be programmed into an artificial intelligence system. Then the job/tasks can be completed by artificial intelligence instead of paying a human fair wages to complete the job. Therefore, in theory is the majority of jobs can be replaced by artificial intelligence then the majority of the workforce will be out of a job, resulting in an unemployment crisis. The author uses examples throughout history in order to reinforce the idea that artificial intelligence will displace a large majority of the workforce. For example when many of the jobs in the agriculture and automobile industry were automated, millions of jobs were destroyed. Also taking into consideration that many of the workers that will be or have been displaced by technology are generally less educated and maintain lower wage jobs. Therefore, technological advances and artificial intelligences ability to take over outline jobs means that people currently working in these positions will either need to find a job that will not cannot be threatened by technology or they will have to move from industry to industry in order to maintain a repetitive, lower wage job. The fear is that with the implementation of artificial intelligence into the workforce there won't be enough of the low wage, repetitive jobs which are crucial to our economy and for the wellbeing of the masses. Therefore, technology is depleting the middle class jobs and creating a polarized job market, by leaving only low wage, low education jobs or high wage, high education jobs. By depleting the middle class jobs, many people will not have a job at all as there will not be enough employment for all of society, and those that do find jobs will likely be over educated and over qualified for their positions. Examples of how artificial intelligence is already beginning to displace workers are: lawyers and paralegals are being replaced by online resources, fast food service positions are being taken over by artificial intelligence (example: McDonalds, Starbucks, etc.), and the automation of store check outs (example: Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, etc.). This is a very strong article that discusses many specific examples throughout time. The author thoroughly uses examples throughout history to prove the legitimacy of their argument that artificial intelligence will create an employment crisis. The author also used present day examples of how artificial intelligence is taking over jobs and quietly integrating itself into our everyday lives.

Mackenzie Stenger