A major ethical consideration for developers of AI systems is their effect on jobs. Some AI experts including Nick Bostrom believe that there will be a significant economic impact of AI. Many people are already concerned about the impact of AI on existing jobs and worry that it will change the entire employment landscape. Let's look at how AI can affect jobs, where jobs may be at risk, and where jobs are being created. AI can be used most effectively for jobs that are primarily repetitive or rules-based. This category of job could include; bank tellers, sales people, call center operatives, and drivers. People in these jobs may see demand for their skills fall, and may need to retrain in other areas. For example, there have been tremendous advances in autonomous vehicle technology in the last few years and as self-driving car has become more and more of a reality, the jobs of many millions of drivers around the world are at risk, some of whom have found new sources of income in the recent years by driving through the likes of; Uber, Lyft, Ola and DD. People converse daily with AI Assistant bots. Bots answer calls at call centers, answer questions on websites, perform tasks on mobile phones, and many other things besides. Bots can be used to perform simple tasks for many workers, freeing those people up to attend to more complex tasks or replacing them entirely, depending on the implementation. Alternatively, bots can be integrated into an organization's existing systems providing help and support to people, and making their jobs easier. But along with improving communications and reducing support costs for organizations, they can also eliminate many call center and help desk jobs. There is great concern among economists that developing countries are at even greater risk from AI encroaching into the job market with low-wage jobs quickly being lost. Although this may be broadly true, there are some ways that a developing country with many people looking for work can participate in the development of AI, and gain some benefits from the technology. For example, workers can prepare images that will become training data for self-driving cars by identifying parts of the images. This work does not require high tech infrastructure or highly trained workers, but it can be used by some of the most sophisticated AI systems available today. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, it is expected that 75 million jobs will be displaced by AI, robotics, and automation in the next few years. However, AI also brings with it new opportunities and job roles that have not existed in the past. In fact, the very same report also indicates that AI will foster net new job growth, resulting in a 133 million new jobs in the next few years. That's almost 60 million more jobs than will be lost. So with this changing job landscape, there will undoubtedly be a shift in society as people cease to work in certain professions but need to find other fulfilling sources of income. A key part of this is up-skilling and re-skilling initiatives. Companies like IBM are working with policymakers, academic institutions, and training providers to help students and workers acquire new skills that will emerge in an AI-enabled economy. As AI permeates our daily lives, new ways of working will be discovered. Already AI is augmenting jobs rather than eliminating them. Bringing new jobs to less developed countries, and bringing investors and small business together regardless of location. Although the employment landscape will certainly change, it may well be for the better.
