Opinion: How can we deal with our A.I-filled future?

Since 2000, 1.7 million manufacturing jobs have been slowly phased out by robots. Many current and incoming workers fear they will not be able to find a job. But do they have to worry? After the Industrial Revolution, technological advances lowered the number of farmers required at the farms, so they all moved to different jobs, and we advanced as a society from this.

This time is no different–machinery will replace jobs, and people will be redirected to new occupations furthering our progress in technology. Many people fear change, but what transition will this provoke in society?

According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020″, A.I could lead to the loss of 85 million jobs, but A.I is also expected to create 97 million new jobs. Even though we are losing a large number of jobs, we are also gaining more than we are losing in the same timeframe.

According to World Economic Forum some major positions that will be needed in the future include data analysts and scientists, machine learning specialists, information security analysts, software developers, and internet-of-things specialists. There will be plenty of jobs to go around–what we have to mainly worry about is the transition from now to our A.I-centered future. How will we train and prepare ourselves for the new jobs that A.I will create? 

We will need those that currently understand the workings of A.I to teach us, so everyone is prepared for what is to come. IBM reports that in the next three years, more than 120 million workers globally will need retraining due to artificial intelligence’s impact on jobs. According to IBM, the way companies can ready themselves for AI is to create training that is personalized for each individual.

 A more long-term way for us to be prepared for the new jobs is to grow a skilled workforce and create a stronger educational system that emphasizes STEM subjects. America’s Cutting Edge, a government initiative for machine tool technology development, even offers a one-week boot camp for participants to learn to program, operate, and produce computer-controlled machine tools.

In the approaching years, there will be great job loss, but we have survived this before. If we prepare for our AI-centric future, we will be just fine.