“You might not have a job when the robots arrive, but that’s OK”

“You might not have a job when the robots arrive, but that’s OK”
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By Sewon Park, Harvard College Class of 2021

According to Jason Furman (Harvard Kennedy School Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy), Francesca Rossi (IBM Research, AI Ethics Global Leader), and Wilson White (Google Public Policy and Government Relations Senior Counsel), artificial intelligence is our friend. On Thursday, September 21st, the three experts gathered at the JFK Jr. Forum at the Harvard Institute of Politics for: “Will You Still Have a Job When the Robots Arrive? AI and its Impact on the Workforce.” Moderated by Greg Ip, Chief Economics Commentator at The Wall Street Journal, the panel was largely supportive of AI growth and its prospects for improving the economy and creating new sorts of job opportunities.

The panelists first argued against recent doomsday predictions on AI, saying that this is simply not the first time new technology has entered society and threatened to displace workers. Rossi said that we are in fact “far from the extreme scenarios media and movies depict about AI’s capabilities” and capacity to overtake humans. We should focus instead on the endless potentials of AI. White explained how Google products are being positively transformed by machine learning, and the Google data center, by using AI, had a 40% reduction in energy systems. Rossi detailed how IBM is working on using AI to augment humans’ cognitive capabilities.

The new technology will also create a wealth of jobs in the economy. White explained how AI gives companies opportunities to create new types of jobs by bringing down the cost of computing. At Google, a whole new team of AI researchers now exists, and many more people are needed to help with the implementation of machine learning. Likewise, Rossi stressed that while some tasks will be eliminated, others will appear, meaning the overall job market will require many new skills and employees.

Rossi shows how new jobs will be created through AI.

Rossi shows how new jobs will be created through AI.

Belfer Center/YouTube Screenshot

I believe that the speakers’ optimism is well founded. Indeed, the overall economy, productivity, nature of jobs, and society as a whole will benefit as a result of AI in the long run. Policy implementations for the short-term issue of job displacement during this technological transition, however, were somewhat dismissed in the forum.

White touched upon the issues of worker displacement and the need to extract maximum benefit from the promising technology in a way that benefits common workers as well. He then concluded that society needs to continue to “wrestle with these hard questions.” Furman conceded that the new technologies “will create some side effects for people with high school degrees or less,” and thus America needs “a bit of a safety net.” He acknowledged that automation is likely to put the most pressure on lower-skill, lower-wage jobs. Despite recognizing the gravity of the situation, neither speaker honed in on the issue further or offered concrete solutions to protect these workers. Given the large threat of job loss we face in the short run, I believe we need to brainstorm more tangible policy changes or solutions.

Furman shows the impact of AI on jobs of different income levels.

Furman shows the impact of AI on jobs of different income levels.

Belfer Center/YouTube Screenshot

The panelists decided that effective job training and education systems are necessary to train and prepare humans for this transition phase. Rossi pushed governments to engage in educational efforts so people can re-skill themselves, pointing to P-Tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) as an example. Furman stressed the importance of making sure people have skills for the new jobs that will come. At a more immediate level, however, policy changes must again be made to support those who have already been displaced in the workforce. We cannot rely on educational efforts to help people whose jobs have already become obsolete, and cannot possibly hope to re-skill all Americans before they lose their work as well. Yes -- AI will leave us all better off in the long run -- but those who lose their jobs next year, next month, or even tomorrow, deserve to be protected by our nation’s government.

As the panelists say, we must remain optimistic and driven to expand this promising technology. Fear about worker displacement and our world with AI has certainly been overstated in recent years -- which we should work to avoid. The need to protect workers in the short run, however, is equally as important, thus calling for more meaningful discussions on policy. There is a way to champion rapid technological growth while also working out ways to protect displaced workers in the meantime.

Sewon Park is freshman at Harvard College from Hong Kong. In addition to being a member of the JFK Jr. Forum Committee, Sewon works with the Harvard Public Opinion Project at the Institute of Politics.

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