AI: Not Taking Jobs, Erasing Them

Let’s not worry about an AI uprising just yet. The real danger isn’t an army of robots and lasers, rather it’s how it’s helping Karen from Accounting to do your job and do it faster.

Efficiency, Not Sentience

The talk around the block is about whether or not AI is taking our jobs, but last we looked there’s no shiny new robot behinds sitting in the office seats yet. So this isn’t something for us to worry about yet, right? Unfortunately the issue we’re overlooking is not about how capable automation is at doing our job, but rather how capable and efficient automation can make other people do our jobs.

AI won't replace doctors, but doctors who use AI will replace those who don't.

Bertalan Meskó, Medical Futurist

Consider a tech support center that receives 50 tickets per hour, with each agent taking an average of 20 minutes to resolve a ticket. In this scenario, at least 17 agents would be required per hour to manage the workload effectively.

Now, suppose you introduce a Large Language Model (LLM) trained on the company's technology and documentation. This LLM significantly enhances employee workflow, allowing them to resolve tickets in an average of 12 minutes. As a result, only 10 agents would be needed to accomplish the same workload that previously required 17 agents.

As the scale increases to hundreds of tickets per hour and hundreds of support employees, the impact of the LLM becomes even more pronounced. The LLM might even simplify the tasks sufficiently that lower-skilled staff could perform them for a lower wage, resulting in a reduced workforce requirement at a lower cost. It's important to note that the AI in this scenario did not replace anyone's job; instead, the jobs themselves have been transformed and streamlined.

Experienced professionals may find their skills less unique as AI-assisted colleagues can produce work of similar quality. Creative fields face a similar risk, not that AI itself can replace creative jobs yet, but that teams powering their workflow with AI can outpace smaller competitors by sheer volume. Even trades, seemingly AI-resistant, could see an influx of workers displaced by AI from other industries, increasing competition.

We Need to Talk

I don’t mean to be a doom speaker, but this reality isn’t a future state, the technology is here today, and few jobs are safe. As businesses catch on to the power of AI in its present state, the challenge becomes how they’ll leverage its power to do more with less. On the one hand this could free up time for innovation and untapped projects, or this could lead to an economic crisis as fewer workers are needed to maintain a productive society.

Can we reimagine work-life balance with AI-based efficiency?

If less labor is required for existing jobs, how do we support people financially while they pursue passions or new careers?

AI has enormous potential for the betterment of human society, but its impact depends on conscious decisions made now. We need to take this seriously and stop scoffing over the topic and open urgent dialogue now to ensure AI benefits all of humanity and not just a select few.

Otherwise we don’t need to wait for the robot rebellion, we’ll have destroyed ourselves.