When and How Will Artificial Intelligence be OK?
You have just been informed that A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) robots will replace half the work force at your job in the next month. Just as the beads of sweat begin to form and your heart starts to race, a spokesperson announces that nobody should be concerned because everyone will be kept on at full pay and benefits for the next five years. During this time the government and employment office will be developing a plan to retrain and rebuild new and creative jobs for all displaced workers. Now you are thinking that this must be a pipe dream, a Utopian fantasy. Yet making this a reality is needed now more desperately than ever.
It took some 50 years for automation to spread through all of factory work in the U.S. New microcomputer automation has exploded into the workplace in less than 20 years. It is poised to spread, not only into every factory, but every corner of the entire job market. According to the New York Times, profit driven corporations “are racing to automate their own work forces to stay ahead of the competition, with little regard for the impact on workers.”1
In pursuit of maximizing short-term profits, corporate boards are moving as fast as possible. They intend to use A.I. to displace, if possible, up to 100 percent of their workers. Within the next ten years millions of workers may be replaced by robots. The vast majority of displaced workers will not be re-skilled by private industry.
What jobs will remain for us or our kids? Will A.I. improve the quality of all our lives? Are we O.K. with this picture of the future? Perhaps it is time to consider an economic and social system that puts social needs, social security and social health and welfare, up front and center. The explosion of A.I. may soon force us to seriously consider these issues.
Dr. Nayvin Gordon is a California Family Physician who has written many articles on health and politics. He can be reached at: gordonnayvin@yahoo.com
1 “The Hidden Automation Agenda of the Davos Elite”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/technology/automation-davos-world-economic-forum.html