Last night, I was discussing possible career choices with my school-going niece. I was astonished to see how children are apprehensive of advancements made by Artificial Intelligence. Despite being good in accounting, she outrightly rejected the idea of becoming an accountant as AI will cater to all future bookkeeping. For her, computer programmers, artists, and analysts will share the same star-crossed fate. Well, her doubts are not unreasonable at all.
Job uncertainty has been the hottest talk in the town since Artificial Intelligence came up. Every day more and more jobs are coming at the crosshairs of AI. Students and mid-career professionals are on the fence about what to choose, continue, or switch amid confusion created by AI hustle-bustle.
Goldman Sachs, the second largest investment bank by revenue, has already predicted that Artificial Intelligence would gobble up one-fifth of the global employment pie. Careers commonly considered as automation-proof, such as administrative and legal professionals, are also at risk. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), representing Hollywood screenwriters, ended a 148-day strike after some reassurances to be saved against generative AI. But we all know the respite is temporary. The win of humans against AI is just ephemeral.
At this juncture, the existential question Artificial Intelligence poses before us is; whether AI will eventually turn homo sapiens unsuitable to perform the existing jobs or it will just displace the job pie from one skillset to another. Well, a pragmatic proposition is a bit too affirmative for the former.
Yes! Artificial Intelligence is very likely to take over wide-ranging jobs from accounting to driving cars or customer care to scriptwriting. The transformation is not like what previously happened with the spinning jennies or ATMs which only disturbed, but did not destroy, the job pool. Additionally, the interventions of yore injected efficiency in processes, leading to the formation of more job avenues. For example, the establishment of ATMs might have slashed some teller positions. But, on the other hand, it boosted the efficiency of the banking system. Banks got clientele, leading to the opening up of more branches and new job openings along with the recognition of banking as a credible institution. This time, the transformation pushed by Artificial Intelligence is exterminating the jobs sans leaving residual openings. Ventures are going for less staff, and thus more dividends for shareholders. Jobs requiring higher-order thinking will also budge up as updated AI models are finer than their previous versions. This progression will ultimately lead to conquering the intellectual fort of humanity.
So, what will we mortals do? Will we only be left to pursue eschatological pursuits when all the jobs will be performed by all-power Artificial Intelligence? Here is a caveat; all those jobs will be saved that embody empathy at their core. So, what’s special about empathy and why does only this human trait, among a plethora of others, take centrestage when the buck stops at the crucial question of being employed or unemployed?
We can save our jobs just by putting in a mix of empathy to the way we are performing them right now. The job will stand unique per se, never to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence. Adopt empathy as after all, we love our jobs!
Empathy is the first human instinct. It starts right at birth as the baby cries. The cry in distress triggers an empathetic response by the caregiver thanks to mirror neurons. The enigmatic mirror neurons come into play when we either act or observe the same action performed by any other. The empathetic vibes are infused and learned by the child as the core human instinct. This coveted instinct is then carried forward on the wheels of folklore. Our folklore is rich in fables, characters, and scenarios, marking empathy as a desired human trait.
As we grow older, we learn other skills, traits, and vibes. We teach these vibes to other fellows of the species. This is how knowledge transfers and saves in a collective pool. Of late, our apex wisdom pool is Artificial Intelligence. Coming back to the empathy question; considerably, empathy-induced jobs are saved from the incursion of AI thanks to the following two strong reasons;
Firstly, empathy drives us to wade through complex situations emphasizing more on Emotional Intelligence rather than commonly trumped IQ. Workplaces have their very own complex ecosystem. Services are meant to serve someone. The end-user is always a sentient being filled with emotions. Empathy is considered a sentient-exclusive vibe. The ethical and moral social questions can only be answered by ethical choices and value-based judgments, pretty hard for AI to crack and emulate.
Secondly, trust is a deciding and guiding force for us. We hand over our hard-earned savings to a bank manager; join a pilot to take us to thousands of metres of heights upwards; allow a surgeon to tear apart our chest to perform cardiac surgery; and donate to charity in return for favours from the heavens, all because of trust on the promises made in return. It is pretty hard for humans to put the same faith in machines and algorithms.
Prima facie, empathy-induced careers are mostly concentrated in healthcare, therapy, hospitality, or elderly care. In essence, this is not the case. Empathy is a part and parcel of almost every action we do, and every job we perform. This is another thing that we have forlorn empathy in our dealings. Nonetheless, its principal position cannot be contested at all.
We can save our jobs just by putting in a mix of empathy to the way we are performing them right now. The job will stand unique per se, never to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence. Adopt empathy as after all, we love our jobs!
