Artificial Intelligence: The elephant in the room

Exploring the Impact of AI on Employment and Society

Written by Nigel Kettle

It is hard for you to go through the day without hearing some reference to Artificial Intelligence in some way. AI offers significant benefits for our lives and future, but simultaneously poses frightening implications for the future of humanity and work. While we must embrace it to remain competitive in our careers, businesses, and life in general, the displacement of workers has already begun. It is gaining momentum daily as AI technology continues to improve at a breathtaking pace.

AI editing a video

Three years ago, I set up a conference call with a few colleagues in the media and entertainment business to discuss the implications of AI for future business. At the time, the consensus was, “There is no way AI can replace the creative mind of a human being. AI will never be able to write a story, sift through video footage, or edit it together to tell an emotionally compelling story. No way AI will be able to write songs or create music in a way that touches our hearts and moves us with a musical composition or arrangement.” Wow! We were so wrong that we cannot even wrap our minds around it—neither can the creators of AI, who are baffled and struggle to understand its full capabilities.

If you haven't taken the time to watch the docu-series “What’s Next” with Bill Gates on Netflix, I strongly recommend watching the first episode, which deals with AI. If you are in the entertainment industry, as I am, pay special attention to what James Cameron says in that doc.

AI is replacing humans in every facet of life, from Wall Street Day Traders to farming and restaurant servers. If you have not been served by a robot in a restaurant yet, you will soon. I was first served by a robot two years ago in Canada during a quick stop at a restaurant with my sister on our way to the airport. My sister, who lives in Canada, found it amusing that I had never been served by one before, even though they existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have since been served by robots in a few US places.

OK, so robots are serving you—big deal. Well, yes, it is a big deal with enormous repercussions. As the owner of Anna Maria Oyster Bar states, their robots work seven days per week, never need a day off, and the operating cost for a robot is about $2.50 per hour. Anna Maria Oyster Bar still has a waiting staff that takes your order, but they don’t need a large serving staff as they did before, since their workload has been reduced. At the restaurant in Canada, we never saw a waiting staff. We ordered our food on a tablet. A robot delivered it, and we paid via a device at our table.

Imagine a restaurant that requires about 20 servers per day. Why use humans if robots can do the job for way less and work twice as efficiently, 24/7, without complaining? This is where this industry is heading. This means restaurants will start cutting their serving staff by as much as 75%. Where will human servers find jobs? How about farming? How about becoming a driver, a teacher, or a computer programmer? Bad news: drivers are also on the way out, as autonomous vehicles are now the new thing. Companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Uber are investing heavily in AI to develop and deploy self-driving cars, promising increased safety and efficiency. Driverless vehicles are touted as never tired or distracted; therefore, they are a better alternative for long-distance and tedious routes. And yes, while this is true, imagine how many working drivers will be displaced.

Autonomous truck driving on the highway.

We have witnessed a profound shift in the entertainment industry that has had a significant impact on my company. Voiceover recordings in English and a few other languages are now at the stage where you can no longer tell which ones are AI and which are human. We have seen a 70 percent drop in human voice-over requests from clients. Forget about music creation; in seconds, you can generate complex musical compositions that would take a musician days to produce. I can compose songs with rhythm and arrangements that rival Beyoncé and Taylor Swift's chart-toppers with just a few keywords. Advanced AI features can now be used to edit footage, enhance visual effects, and extend and create new scenes. Companies like DeepMind and Adobe are pioneering tools that can automatically generate video content based on simple text descriptions or existing footage. 2D illustration artists are on the chopping block right now.

You don’t need a crystal ball to see where this is going. I am a small business owner. It is challenging to stay in business. You are constantly looking for ways to save money and stay relevant to survive.  However, this is a two-edged sword. On one side, you must find a way to cut your costs to compete, which forces you more to use AI that your competitors are using, but at the same time, every time you use AI to complete a task, you just cost someone a job. Every time I use AI to generate an image, I am taking revenue away from an artist, but if I don’t, I cannot compete with my competitors who are using it and undercutting me. If I cannot compete, my business will go under. This is the dilemma that business owners face.

Experts often liken AI to Pandora’s box. While I’m not entirely convinced that this term is accurate, as the potential outcomes seem apparent to anyone paying attention, it feels like we are collectively ignoring the consequences. They say ignorance is bliss, but that is a misguided philosophy. We must start brainstorming, planning, and implementing countermeasures before it’s too late.

Many people in the middle and upper classes believe that AI will primarily impact lower-income jobs. However, both white and blue-collar positions face significant immediate threats due to AI advancements. For example, day trading has shifted mainly to AI-driven processes. Financial analysts, traders, and customer service representatives are increasingly being replaced by AI systems that can perform their tasks more quickly and accurately. This trend also extends to accountants and lawyers, particularly those involved in contract creation, such as entertainment lawyers. Microsoft Copilot, for instance, now generates contracts that compete with those produced by traditional law firms. Additionally, AI is taking on responsibilities like legal research, document review, and analysis, which will soon reduce the need for paralegals and assistants.

Every time you find yourself saying, AI will never be able to do this. Stop and think again. Education is undergoing a quiet revolution today as AI drives algorithms and learning systems that are more tailored to individual student needs than a human teacher can. These algorithms are used to analyze students’ performance and behavior patterns and adjust their lessons to compensate for gaps.

A robotic machine operating on a patient.

The field of medicine has not gone untouched. AI is now being used for robotic surgery and patient diagnosis. Several doctors are now utilizing a virtual health assistant. AI is now analyzing medical images with better accuracy than a Radiologist. Similarly, routine tasks performed by nurses and administrative staff are increasingly being automated. A friend who worked for a Robotics company confided that 'operation' robots no longer need to be supervised or controlled by doctors. However, they still recommend that doctors participate in it to make them feel relevant, but over time, that will change as people become accustomed to the idea of robots performing medical operations more efficiently and accurately than humans.

Architects are facing grave threats from AI.  With just a few keywords, AI will generate the house of your dreams, reducing the need for a drafter. The future of new house construction is now 3D concrete printing. Of course, you still need humans to do some aspect of this, but the point I am making is this: the workforce for any of these fields is diminishing daily.

Take a moment to contemplate this. What will be the repercussions if two-thirds or half of Americans lose their jobs? The active American workforce as of today is 163.9 million. If, over the next two to four years, 82 million working people are jobless, what do you think the consequences will be?  Those 82 million people, along with the millions of people whose incomes support them, still need to eat, pay rent, or make mortgage payments.  They still need clothing and medical care.  It is not difficult to imagine how this could lead to the total collapse of society as we know it.

AI predicts that the rise of Artificial Intelligence will lead to the consolidation of wealth at the top, creating a wider gap between the haves and have-nots. What happens to any society where the middle class is diminished? Well, you know, it leads to depression. The fabric of society will crumble if the middle-class pillar that holds up the top is removed. It is not too far-fetched to envision a Mad Max-style situation.

This is not an article about doomsday. The point of this article is to raise awareness. Our political leaders must start taking notice, conducting studies, and implementing policies to address the impact of AI.  Yes, it is true that we are currently experiencing a labor shortage in America. However, strangely enough, this labor shortage is forcing companies to look more closely at the use of AI as a compensation measure. The issue is that once AI fills the void, it remains there for good. They are less expensive. They do not take vacations or sick days. They do not sleep, get tired, or take lunch breaks. They don’t argue or get their feelings hurt. They just work. Once companies become accustomed to having robots perform the work, do you see them reverting to using humans unless they are compelled to do so? Right now, customers are flocking to restaurants that use robots as servers, even though every robot that serves you means one less human with a job. The consequences of our actions are plain to see, yet conveniently, we choose to ignore the elephant in the room.

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but this article barely scratches the surface. We face a serious problem ahead, as AI's potential to displace workers will lead to increased inequality and social unrest. As traditional career paths are disrupted, we need programs to help workers transition—but transition to what? Few industries will remain untouched by AI, and the speed of this disruption poses significant challenges.

The concentration of AI development within a few large tech companies raises concerns about power and control. Without proper regulation, we risk exacerbating existing inequalities; however, there are currently no plans in place to address these issues. It would seem that our political leaders have not yet grasped the magnitude of this issue, or just don’t understand the technology. Policymakers must collaborate with experts to develop frameworks that harness the benefits of AI while addressing its challenges. Many people are questioning why we should pursue AI development so aggressively, given that it could lead to significant job losses. The reality is that halting progress is not a viable option; if we stop, other countries will move ahead of us. It is essential for us to remain competitive.

While we can’t stop the advancement of AI, we can prepare for its consequences. It's crucial for leaders to explore options now, including a nationwide welfare system to address impending job losses before we face an AI-induced recession. For the first time in history that I am aware of, we have the people at the forefront of this technology begging our leaders for oversight and regulations. Yet their pleas fall on deaf ears. What will it take to awaken our leader to what I consider the most significant threat our country faces?