Since ChatGPT embarked on its journey to answer all our queries in a conversational format, people have been going crazy over AI. Many are saying the need for human intelligence may be at risk. But how true is that? Can AI replace real workers? In this post, we’ll dive deep into the workings of modern artificial intelligence, what the experts are forecasting, the risks involved, and the opportunities that may come for people.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Undoubtedly, everyone has heard the term hundreds of times in their lifetime. But have you ever thought about going beyond the term itself? It may be time to do it since AI is buzzing worldwide, even at the top rated Australian online casinos.
According to Oxford Languages, artificial intelligence means “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages”.
In simple words, when the capabilities of human thinking and abilities are mimicked via computer systems, you have AI on your hands. The concept itself dates back to the 1950s. But basic level intelligence made computer systems faster and more efficient, rather than exploring new dynamics. The modern day AI is posing the risk of job elimination, precisely NLP systems.
What Are Natural Language Processing (NLP) Systems?
The definition of NLP dictates that it’s the “application of computational techniques to the analysis and synthesis of natural language and speech”. It is, in fact, a branch of computer science that deals with the ability to understand spoken words as humans do.
If you have a background in computer science, you may know that computers only understand 0 and 1, known as the binary system. The best we came to changing that into human readable language is the mainstream programming languages.
NLP takes it one step further and tries to create a connection between naturally spoken language and computer systems. It involves computational linguistics along with rules-based modelling of the human language. Machine learning, statistical models, data processing, etc., are all very important parts of the process.
ChatGPT is nothing but a powerful NLP model which not only understands spoken language but also knows how to respond to it. It’s been possible thanks to the use of large language models.
A large language model (LLM) uses a neural network and a massive data set (often billions or more parameters) to train an AI system. There are human trainers involved in supervising the learning process of artificial intelligence.
Compared to traditional NLP models, LLMs are a relatively newer concept, coming to life in 2018. Since then, companies like OpenAI have been working round the clock to make it a more sustainable and efficient learning model for artificial intelligence development.
Interestingly, LLMs are showing good results with text-based answers and in the world of visual art. Tools like Dall-E 2 or Midjourney AI can craft photoreal images from text prompts within a few minutes. It’s ultimately the capabilities of LLMs that are creating the industry-wide panic.
What Do Experts Have to Say?
Perhaps one of the most credible studies on AI recently is the MIT Task Force published “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work”. Professors David Autor and David Mindell, along with principal research scientist Elisabeth Reynolds dabbled into the potential of AI taking over human labour and what might be the remedies to that risk.
The good thing is that this paper paints a pretty different picture from what we’ve been speculating. It states that the recent developments in AI have made them “specialised” in a particular task.
For example, Dall-E 2 can only create images from text prompts, and it’s very good at that. ChatGPT is perfect at answering questions. The thing is, it can only answer from the data it has from the training and can’t make information up by itself.
According to the experts on the paper, AI will continue to enhance its effects across all industries. But they don’t see AI systems “replacing” human tasks altogether. Rather, AI will make life easier across the board and increase efficiency of employees. At the same time, the sheer force of expansion will create plenty of new job opportunities. It seems like what the mass audience is thinking and what the experts are thinking are not the same.
Forecast of Human Workers AI Might Replace
Since the rise of AI tools in all spheres of life, people have been speculating about the loss of jobs across many industries. Let’s have a look at some of these areas.
Repetitive Tasks
Tasks that require consistent repetition are not always a good fit for humans. It limits the scope for growth and becomes monotonous over time. They may include:
- Packing and Assembly Line: Although we’re overlapping with the scope of robotics here, packing and assembly are prime examples of repetitive jobs. It makes more sense to use human resources in more productive areas.
- Administrative Tasks: Regular office tasks like updating schedules, managing payrolls, keeping track of meetings and reminders, etc., are some other areas where AI tools might be able to help human beings.
Customer Service Representatives
AI has been used in customer service for quite a while now. Any particular company usually focuses on one general type of product or service. So, it’s possible to provide training data on that particular matter to an AI system and let it manage all the customer queries.
With the use of LLMs, it’s possible to help potential customers even more because they’re no longer bound to the same set of questions and answers.
The same theory applies to sensitive industries like health care. Of course, it’s not possible to replace real doctors and nurses with AI. But it’s undoubtedly possible to fill the gaps in emergency situations when medical staff is not available. An app, for example, where questions regarding any specific medical issue are outlined. When someone might be looking for answers regarding that problem, they can consult the AI rather than the actual doctor. It will not only help patients become more knowledgeable but also will help them save money from consultations.
Accounting/Bookkeeping
Now, accounting for any business has already been automated thanks to many tools. But these tools still need inputs from humans to process the data. What if the data comes from AI instead of humans? Employing AI to collect and store data on transactions can also cut down on the margin of error to a large extent. It can also help with corruption, as AI tools cannot go out of their programmed nature.
Long & Repetitive Drives (Taxi and Trucks)
Truck drivers are probably some of the most patient individuals the world has ever seen. They keep driving for hours at a time, staring at the road. Of course, it takes immense willpower and focus to be a successful truck driver. But these long drivers can often become dangerous due to fatigue. What’s even more dangerous is that drivers don’t always realise that they’re tired. It’s very easy to doze off while cruising through a picturesque highway.
Automotive companies like Tesla are already dabbling into driverless vehicles. A big chunk of the research goes into machine learning algorithms. The goal is to provide the self-driving system with as much data as possible to help it make the right decision at the right time.
We may not be quite there yet, but AI can surely replace the truck driving job. And it would be for the betterment of all parties involved. Automated taxis are another potential scenario we may come across soon. It takes the monotony out of driving around the same roads over and over again for taxi drivers.
Programmers and Content Industry Staff
One of the earliest speculations regarding AI being the future of work is that AI will replace programmers. While it’s true that LLM systems like ChatGPT can churn out thousands of lines of code within minutes, it’s not going to be an outright elimination.
Rather, technological advances will allow programmers to develop even more complex systems with more capabilities in a shorter time frame.
The content marketing industry mostly consists of writers, proofreaders, and translators. While it may not be possible to replace creative writing, AI can take care of proofreading and translation. Translation work, however, will need supervision from humans because it’s not something the current generation of AI is very good at. You can understand what we’re saying if you test out ChatGPT’s translation abilities.
If talking about iGaming industry, there are VR casinos now coming up to the forefront. This new technology let player explore even more realistic gambling experience in comparison with traditional gambling sites.
Potential Risks of AI Replacing Human Intelligence
Since the time AI started making all the headlines, many notable personalities have shared their concerns over it. One of the most prominent of these personnel is Elon Musk, who is often believed to have co-founded OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
An open letter signed by Musk and over 1,000 other technology experts broke the media in March 2023. The letter stated that developers of AI are locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict or reliably control. So, if we have to outline some risks of artificial computer vision, we can think of the following.
READ MORE: How Poker AI is Revolutionizing the Game’s Landscape
Social Manipulation via Algorithms
Believe it or not, we’re already victims of this practice. Social media algorithms heavily use technologies like machine learning, one of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence development. If you compare social media feeds for different people, you’ll notice that the content that shows up is dramatically different.
It’s an inherently dangerous approach because we’re very much dependent on social media to get the news and views of the world. Any kind of bias from the developers of the algorithm can lead to a massive shift in thinking.
Weakening Ethics
Propaganda and false opinion have long been the biggest enemy of humankind. With the rise of AI, this kind of malicious practice can become even more serious. Many political, technological, and even religious leaders have shared concerns over the ethical dilemma AI can create among the mass people.
Pope Francis said that if mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the common good, this would lead to an unfortunate regression to a form of barbarism dictated by the law of the strongest.
For starters, students are using ChatGPT all over the world to aid in their assignments and even to cheat on exams. While we can paint it as a “utilisation” of technology, there’s no way to deny that this kind of practice will create serious ethical issues among the next generation, the generation that’s currently using ChatGPT for their benefit.
Sensitive issues like racial biases can lead to discriminatory hiring practices among recruiters. It can be the direct result of biases in the data fed to the training model of an AI program. If it goes unnoticed for long enough, it can create a dramatic shift in socioeconomic inequality.
Autonomous Weapons
If fallen into the wrong hands, everything can be used as a weapon. AI is too powerful of a tool to be used as a weapon. This is undoubtedly one of the biggest risks of replacing human tasks with AI tools.
What if an ill-intended government wants to make autonomous weapons controlled by AI? As AI can only act on the given data set, it’ll act every time a target matches the data set. Whether it’s necessary to eliminate the target or not will not matter to the system.
Financial Crisis
If you’re into investing, you may have heard the term “algorithmic trading”. Many investors use trading bots to buy and sell financial instruments based on set conditions. In recent times, AI has entered the system with various indicators. Pine Script on TradingView is a good example.
Apparently, these indicators can “predict the future”. They’re misleading investors into positions that may not come to fruition. After all, no one can predict the market movement of financial instruments, not even AI.
If enough people start investing with AI bots and enough money is lost, it can very well lead to the next financial crisis. And it’ll be far larger than what we’ve seen during the 2008 crisis.
Final Words
There is no way to deny that AI has the potential to disrupt the current job market. However, if you look at historical data on any technological advancement, they have been known to disrupt this sector. AI will do the same but at a much greater scale, thanks to the globalisation we have right now. It will pose risks to some positions, but it’ll create even more jobs to fill up the void. We’re currently in a transition phase. All we have to do is wait and let the panic phase blow over.
