A 2023 of 2023 Global Public Opinion on Artificial Intelligence It scares a little. At least. A large majority of workers around the world thinks that their work will be replaced by an AI. And that the survey is 2023. With everything we know now and how its development is growing, almost certainly, if we repeat the survey now, the figures would be more alarming.
On the other hand, It is always healthy to ask questions If perhaps we are overvaluing AI or undervalued human creativity … in any case, Even in Spain, half of the workers think that their work can be done by an AI.
Source: Carlos Arenas Laorga with data from the Global Public Opinion on Artificial Intelligence
Now what scares me most is that Indians know something that others do not know. 75% of the population think that their work will be carried out by AI. To shake. It is true that there is a lot of programmer in this country. But we talk about very qualified jobs. And no one gets rid here.
In Spain I know more of tourism and hospitality. Already … Have you seen the robots that serve cafes, drinks and even cocktails? Have you seen the robots that the orders serve on the tables and collect the leftovers? I had seen them in Europe, but for a while I am already starting to see them in Madrid. Obviously it does not replace the entire staff of a restaurant, but it can leave it in diapers. And that regarding the service. Imagine the potential of a kitchen that receives the order of a table and kitchen at the moment a perfect recipe, always the same.
The psychology It is another of the professions that cannot replace the AI. Of course, in theory. In practice, AI use data is very worrying. Or the teachers, always necessary (I am). And now it turns out that, with glasses, you can be in Greece listening to Socrates’s speeches.
But here is a Good news. The fear of the loss of employment due to technological advances is not new. Nothing new under the sun says the Bible. Each industrial revolution has brought panic waves. Mechanical looms produced groups such as ludism. With violence, these individuals tried to destroy the new looms for the fear of loss of employment in England at the beginning of the 20th century.
With computers or the Internet, jobs have not been destroyed in net terms. They have been modified. The technological sector is the largest in the world. 30 years ago there was nothing that the world dominates today and where millions of people work. AI is not different. Yes, surely thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people we will run out of work. Temporarily … because new sectors will be generated. Sectors of nothing. Not only jobs, but entire industries.
Data processing, images, basic customer service, writing of routine reports, programming and a long etcetera, will disappear or will be held to a large extent. And new opportunities in programming, models training, ethics of AI and thousands of things that I am not able to imagine are emerged. Did you imagine 10 years ago that universities would be giving titles now? I guess no.
I am also lucky. An administrative, teleoperator, accountant or, even a driver, have much more unstable Damocles sword on their heads. When your work is done well, faster, faster, cheap and without vacations …
The problem of this is that In Spain we have a very rigid labor market. In addition, our system does not encourage continuous training or innovation. That is, the big problem is not that your work is replaced by AI, but that converting is very difficult. Frictional unemployment (the one from you leave a job until you find the next) is very high in Spain. In the US it is not the best day of the month when they fire you, but it is not the drama of Spain.
Therefore, the conclusion that I get from this is that We must make our labor market more flexible to adjust as quickly as possible The huge changes that come over us. It is normal to be afraid, but if we do not have the labor market adapted, fear will be more founded.
One has to formasealways. One has to specialize. One has to Adopt the AIas soon as possible. And you have to Press politicians not to hide the labor marketbut more flexible. By the way, that in certain works the use of the AI is sought … I do not predict anything good for those companies.
Total, that perhaps we are left without work. But the problem is not so much that we do not have the work structure to reconvert ourselves soon. Once again, we find politicians facilitating (it is ironic, just in case) the way.