Will AI Create More Jobs?

The spinning jenny resulted in the boom of the textile industry. The steam engine made
transport faster, resulting in the creation of more jobs. The Telegraph took away a portion of
responsibilities from the postman but created newer kinds of jobs. Can we say the same
thing about AI?

The ultimate aim of AI has been to replace human intelligence with artificial intelligence. The
term itself has a negative connotation. So far, where things are going, it seems most AI
systems aren’t necessarily creating jobs. The self-drive car has the potential to replace the
human driver; the large language model has the potential to replace generic writers, and the
chatbots have the potential to replace call center agents. In this respect, the advent of AI
isn’t in line with the Industrial Revolution.

But let’s play the devil’s advocate here. It’s possible that AI can redefine the meaning of the
Industrial Revolution. Maybe the actual purpose of AI is to increase the capabilities of
humans. An AI-based anomaly detector can assist doctors in detecting ailments that are
difficult to detect. A self-driving car can help drivers avoid accidents. Then again, even AI
needs assistance. It needs to be constantly trained and fed with data. AI systems need
enormous computing power. In the future, we will need more skilled personnel to maintain
servers, more security personnel to protect the server rooms, and more people in the
semiconductor plants. In this respect, the answer to the question – ‘Is AI the next Industrial
Revolution?’ is a resounding yes!