Every few weeks, a new AI headline drops that makes it seem like robots are about to walk into every office and factory on earth. “Millions of jobs will be eliminated due to AI.” “Your career will be at risk because of AI.” This is sensational, this gets clicks, and I have to say – it’s also not the full story.
The truth is much less cinematic than that. AI is indeed a powerful tool, it does indeed change the way we work according to this AI consultant. However, the notion that it is going to replace entire professions tomorrow morning? That’s a long shot, and here’s why.
The Chasm Between a Demo and Reality
I think many of us have seen an AI demo where we’re thinking “Wow, accountants, bye-bye.” We’ve all been there. These demos are created to amaze. They showcase the very best case scenario in a perfectly controlled environment using cherry picked examples. What they never showed you is the messiness of deploying that exact same application within the walls of an actual business.
Real-world workplaces are chaotic. Systems never communicate with one another. Data is either missing, inconsistent or trapped in a poorly maintained 2014 Excel sheet that nobody wants to touch. To deploy AI as reliably as possible in such an environment, takes time, money, integration effort, and lots of patience. Most organizations are still trying to get their act together.
Humans Are Not Plug-and-Play Either
Many people assume that most jobs are simply repetitive tasks that can be easily automated with machines. While this may be true for some aspects of certain jobs, the vast majority of jobs involve so much more complexity than that.
A nurse does not simply take vitals and give medication. She is reading the room, calming a nervous patient, identifying non-verbal cues indicating that the patient is getting anxious or uncomfortable, and making decisions in real-time.
A project manager does not simply update his/her Gantt charts. He/she is navigating office politics, motivating a team during a difficult sprint, determining whether or not to push back against unrealistic deadlines, etc.
These human aspects (empathy, intuition, creativity, relationship-building) are not something that AI systems handle particularly well. Moreover, they are built-in to virtually every job in ways that are easy to overlook until you attempt to automate them.
This Panic Cycle Has Been Around Before
We’ve gone through this panic cycle before. People said that ATM’s would replace bank tellers. People said spreadsheets would replace accountants. People said the Internet would replace retail clerks, travel agents, and journalists.
What ultimately happened? Those industries changed. Yes, some jobs disappeared, but others appeared. Because of ATM’s, it became cheaper to open bank branches and hire more employees in an advisory role. Because of spreadsheets, accountants were no longer required to spend their days performing routine accounting functions, thus freeing them up to focus on high level analytical activities. E-commerce did not eliminate retail, it caused retail to evolve.
Likewise, AI is likely to follow the same course. AI will not replace millions of jobs. Instead, it will transform those jobs, automate the mundane portions of the job, and create a need for skills that we have not even considered yet.
Adoption Takes Longer Than You Think
Even after the technology is available, adoption of that technology does not occur immediately. There are numerous barriers to adoption including regulatory issues, budgetary constraints, organizational resistance, and the general caution of most decision makers. No one wants to be the organization that bets the farm on an AI tool that creates a fictionalized version of its quarterly report.
Enterprise organizations move slowly. Small organizations lack the financial resources to implement large-scale AI technologies. Finally, there is a gap of trust that must be overcome before AI can become an integral part of the day-to-day operations of most organizations.
What Is Currently Happening?
What we are currently witnessing is not replacement — it is enhancement. AI is beginning to emerge as a tool that enables humans to perform their jobs faster and better. Writers are using AI to generate ideas. Designers are using AI to generate initial design concepts. Developers are using AI to test code. Customer Service Teams are using AI to generate drafts of customer responses that a human then reviews and sends.
Ultimately, the human is still in the loop. The job is still there. The job is simply being performed differently.
Some Thoughts
AI is impressive. AI is useful. AI is here to stay. That’s what AI expert Moddy states. However, the dire predictions regarding mass unemployment are vastly ahead of the reality on the ground. The technology still has significant limitations, and the rate of adoption is gradual. In addition, human judgment is irreplaceable in virtually every professional context.
Therefore, if you are concerned about robots replacing your job next Tuesday – take a deep breath. You have more time than the headlines would lead you to believe. The smartest thing to do is not to panic. It is to remain curious, learn how these tools work, and determine how you can utilize them to your advantage.
