Technology makes all our lives better, right? Or does it?
Technology grows businesses, creates jobs, improves services in the public sector but the other side of the coin is that technological advances in automation also eliminate jobs. I suppose the ultimate question should be: does technology create more jobs than it eliminates?
Well, the jury may still be out on this question but research is offering more insight into the reality of the situation.
In the past, technology primarily affected unskilled labour but in an economy with good growth, more jobs were created which tended to offset the losses.
Today, automated technologies are becoming an ever more common feature of our day-to-day lives. However, going forward, technology has the potential to displace skilled labour in all sectors of the economy, while continued increases in productivity may limit the ability of economies to generate enough new jobs to offset those displaced.
So the concept of a world in which humans are replaced by robots is less of a sci-fi fantasy than one would think. It's an emotional topic that has led to wildly varying estimates on possible job losses but all too often fails to paint the full picture.
The fact is that there is little reason to assume our working lives will be negatively impacted by the growing role of artificial intelligence.
In my opinion, a new approach to work is required as it was at the dawn of previous industrial revolutions. It will require business and political leaders to make the right decisions now and if that happens, this current period of transformation has the potential to make work more meaningful for everyone.
Technology WILL affect your job
Powerful and concerning media headlines from around the world make it impossible to adopt an ostrich approach to the fact that automation will affect jobs. Some estimates predict that 9% to 50% of current jobs will cease to exist. Now that is a scary concept.
This current period of transformation has the potential to make work more meaningful for everyone.
The one thing that can be said about these wildly varying estimates is that not only do different sources show little or no consensus on the subject but more importantly they also do not paint the full picture.
It is true that almost all of today's jobs have some aspect that can be automated by current technology, but very few jobs will disappear altogether. Recent McKinsey research suggests about 60% of all occupations have around 30% of constituent activities that can be automated.
Moreover, is it expected that this automation will be introduced in waves.
PwC conducted an analysis of over 200 000 existing jobs across 29 countries, and concluded that the first 'algorithmic' wave of automation will affect just 3% of jobs, and that the more comprehensive second and third waves, leading up to roughly 30% automation, will only take place by the mid-2030s.
New working models
The biggest change in the age of automation will be the emergence of new working models built around human-machine collaboration.
As robots assume routine tasks, human workers will be able to move into newly created roles in an array of disciplines. Opportunities are expected to abound in robotic engineering and data analytics, as well as roles that require unique qualities such as creativity, initiative, leadership and teamwork.
The healthcare industry is one example where companies like Innoplexus are using artificial intelligence to generate data-driven insights that assist in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. By making decisions faster and with greater accuracy, these technologies enable nurses and doctors to spend more time focusing on patient care.
Enabling human/robot collaboration significantly amplifies the value both provide and this in turn has become a key focus for leading players in the robotics field.
For example, CA Technologies recently partnered on a collaborative robotics (cobotics) project with Tampere University of Technology and Tieto in Finland with a view to exploring how to make these emerging human-to-robot workflows as safe, secure and effective as possible.
What's the next big revolution? Reskilling!
These developments serve to confirm that human skills will continue to have a pivotal role in the modern workplace. However, if this potential is to be realised, business and political leaders must act now to ensure workers have the requisite skills to meet these future challenges.
In a nutshell, a greater focus on upskilling and reskilling programmes will be required. This is recognised by global business and political leaders as evidenced by the discussions that took centre stage at this year's World Economic Forum, in Davos. The outcome of this was the launch of a new IT Industry Skills Initiative.
Built around a free platform of online tools called SkillSET, the aim of the initiative is to reach one million people with resources and training opportunities by 2021.
This united effort ranges from general introductions to digital literacy and more advanced topics like big data and cyber security. It has created a centralised portal of training tools for those whose roles may be impacted by technology.
New resources like this are an important first step towards empowering global workers to unlock the opportunities of this new era, but there is much more work to do.
From cobotics projects to upskilling initiatives, government and industry must work together to accelerate the rate of progress so that we can ensure we reap the full benefits of this latest innovation; remembering that artificial intelligence is the latest in a long line of remarkable developments designed and delivered by humans.
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