The debate is ongoing about how many jobs will disappear as self-thinking computers using artificial intelligence are widely adopted.
According to one analysis by U.K.-based REthinkX, the only irreplaceable jobs left will be sex workers, sports coaches and politicians.
Global investment firm Goldman Sachs says 300 million jobs could be replaced by AI.
An investor friend of mine says Goldman Sachs' stock picks are wrong most of the time. Let’s hope that trend follows their artificial intelligence (AI) analysis.
Just how bad are the AI job loss predictions?
RethinkX says billions of jobs could be lost by 2045, making work obsolete.
Some experts claim many jobs will be transformed and created by AI.
Even the next five years are scary.
Consultant Mckinsey claims 70 per cent of businesses will be using AI by 2030.
One in four jobs has already been affected by AI, according to Goldman Sachs. Most involve office workers.
Twenty-three per cent of jobs will be affected by AI by 2027, says Statista. Statista says 69 million jobs will be created by AI, with 83 million lost, for a net loss of 14 million jobs.
The most vulnerable jobs are in offices and administration.
Twelve million more could soon be unemployed in the United States and Europe.
According to the U.S. Career Institute, about 65 job classifications are less vulnerable to AI.
Leading the pack are nurse practitioners, choreographers, physician attendants, mental health counsellors, nursing instructors, teachers, coaches and scouts, athletic trainers, marriage therapists, health care social workers, mental health and substance abuse workers.
All 14 categories listed above are expected to have double-digit job growth through to 2031.
Growth ranges from 45 per cent in jobs for nurse practitioners to 11 per cent for mental health and substance abuse counsellors.
If the world loses 300 million jobs, look for political upheaval and fights between those who want the efficiencies from AI to help support the jobless and those owners who want to keep all the profits from AI cost reductions.
One unpopular solution would be paying the unemployed to do volunteer work or for sports activities.
Industrial/social revolutions historically tend to hurt the less wealthy the most.
AI does have a range of benefits that will make life better.
Health care will see tremendous improvements in AI-assisted diagnostics, customized patient therapy, cost-cutting, and easier access to health care.
AI can advance development of drugs, provide better imaging tests and work with patients and health care workers in remote areas.
Education with AI can be tailored to the student and made more efficient.
The benefits are endless as long as we don’t enter a world like that described in the old Get Smart TV series.
That series depicted a world where one crazed individual was trying to control the entire globe.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
