While AI juggernaut surges ahead, the question is now not what all will it automate beyond recognition and how should the world adapt and adopt this new all-encompassing technology. The question is what jobs it will devastate beyond recognition and possibly decimate it. Earlier the question used to be, what all sectors would face this onslaught, but now question, which ones would escape. It is very rare to find a few. While CEOs and experts agree that AI is creating a new world of work, they are sharply divided about its real nature.
Futurism is tainted by the lens one wears. The ones with rosy lenses like Jensen Huang contend that humans would not be replaced by AI, but rather their AI enabled case workers will take their jobs. Geoffery Hinton, Godfather of AI is of the view that AI would lead to companies needing fewer workers. The impact of AI cannot be compared with the impact of the previous technological advances that created an explosion of new jobs. Major consulting firms and banks are projecting a bleak labor market. McKinsey predicted that by 2020, 30% of current jobs would be automated.
Similarly, Goldman Sachs projected that 50% of jobs could be fully automated by 2045, primarily driven by generative AI and robotics. Anthropic CEO and some other leaders feel that nearly half of the entry level jobs would vanish. Klarna’s CEO admitted that jobs are going to be threatened. Pioneering computer scientist and ex-Googler Geoffery Hinton predicts that one industry which is likely to weather the AI storm is the healthcare industry. The Godfather of AI warns that only very skilled workers will remain employed,
This echoes the feelings of Anthropic ECO’s job wipeout warnings and also the DeepMind leader Demis Hassabis, who also sees the healthcare remaining human. If doctors were to become five times more efficient, we might have five times better healthcare at the same price. There is no limit to how much health care our people can absorb, Healthcare is expected to thrive due to the US digital workplace disruption. A 2024 McKinsey report says that AI can’t perform a majority of tasks that the health care workers can – like sterilizing surgical equipment or administering at-home aid. We are still more comfortable with a human handling our medical issues. Hinton predicts that the healthcare workers would be optimised, but not fully replaced by AI. Tools will help cure disease and create ‘superhuman creativity.’ It is nearly agreed upon, given the current evidence, that people will still remain at the heart of medical care.
HEALTHCARE SEEMS TO BE THE LEAST IMPACTED BY THE AI REVOLUTION IN TERMS OF JOBS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.