Issue #9: Don't believe the doomsaying
Fear of technology is natural, but not delivering the best results
Hello there!
When I’m browsing through Quora and forums on the future of work, there is one common denominator: People fear that tech might replace them. It’s understandable — technology profoundly changes the way humans work, and some jobs have entirely disappeared in the last century. But is that problematic? It can be, but it doesn’t have to.
In this issue, you’ll find a study that indicates that technological advancement as of today doesn’t lead to mass unemployment, but rather a change in the composition of jobs — some tasks might be automated, new ones emerge. Additionally, I added a piece about the positive sides of AI in the workplace and how it could reduce burnout and stress.
After all, technology is neither good nor evil. It depends on humans to understand it and use it as a tool for their benefit. To understand the principles of AI, I added a little documentary recommendation at the end. Historically, the doomsayers and tech pessimists have been wrong, and I’m certain that this won’t change. What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment.
Best,
Alice
Headlines you shouldn’t miss
THE VERGE Discord buys AI anti-harassment company: The platform Discord has purchased Sentropy — an AI-based company that monitors harassment and allows users to block content they don’t want to see. Discord’s acquisition fits its strategic goal to grow its safe team.
THE GUARDIAN Four-day week? Not if it means a pay cut, say British workers: According to a study by the Social Market Foundation, only one in ten Brits would be willing to work less and earn less if given a chance. White-collar workers are more accepting of the four-day-week and a corresponding pay cut, while workers in sectors like care would prefer to work more than currently.
POLITICO The future of work has arrived, and it’s messy: Remote and hybrid work models transformed work-life across the globe. However, the initial euphoria about potentially higher productivity and work-life balance is gradually fading. Employers would prefer to go back to the old way of working but feel the pressure to comply with demands for remote work to satisfy the demand for talent.
MIT SLOAN How to prepare for the AI productivity boom: After decades of productivity stagnation, technologies like AI are likely to boost the economy. To assure that workers reap the fruits of these advances, they must be retrained and upskilled, tax policies must be adjusted, and ethical use of AI must be considered.
ENTREPRENEUR The Future of Work Is Really About the Future of Talent: Tech companies have a high demand for talent. With the pandemic-induced remote work boom, they will have to focus on the best ‘employee-workplace fit’. This will include training and relationship building.
Responsible AI could improve remote work and alleviate stress
Tech journalists and worker’s rights activists tend to be suspicious of AI use in the workplace. Examples of surveillance tactics and dehumanized recruiting stir concern about the ethical questions of work-life.
However, AI in itself is a tool, and it can be used for good. PwC AI expert Anand Rao explains that AI can alleviate stress and prevent burnout — especially in remote work settings.
If workers tend to log into work systems at unusual hours and work longer than usual, AI could remind team leaders to reach out and ask if private issues require them to shift to such work hours.
Additionally, AI could alarm workers if they show behavior that facilitates burnout before they develop the condition.
And in times of hybrid work, AI could assist HR departments in developing the best individualized work schedules that allow both flexibility and collaboration.
Rao stresses that AI must be ethical to achieve those benefits. Only human-centered AI will lead to more upsides than downsides in work life.
Will ‘Robot Expert’ become the next hot job position?
Warehouses and factories are increasingly working with robots that help with logistics or production. As the number of intelligent robots is growing, so is the demand for people to operate and overview them. A new profession might soon be on the rise — the Robot Expert.
In an interview with ZDNet, Bryan Siegal, VP, Customer Success, Vecna Robotics, explains what this new position might entail:
Part of the career path here will be growing from operating the robots, to learning how to effectively deploy new robots as the tools to do that become more mature and accessible to workers without advanced engineering degrees. The Robot Expert will also become part of the operational decision-making level across a site, because their knowledge of how to achieve the best outcomes using the robots will be valuable as site changes and updates are considered.
Why does this matter? The prediction of the ‘robot expert’ is a good example of progress creating new demand. Tech pessimists have feared that humanity will end up without work and the means to make a living since the dawn of industrialization. However, every technological advance creates new roles and positions which we can’t foresee yet.
While displacement is likely to affect workers, other opportunities and positions will arise, and maybe there will be Chief Robot Officers or Chief AI Officers soon. With technologies becoming more user-friendly, these paths might also be available to people who didn’t graduate in tech degrees but understand the strategies and business opportunities these advances can bring.
Number of the week: 34 percent could be automated
The German Institute for Employment Research published a new report on automation and risks for the labor market. According to the researchers, 34 percent of workers are employed in a job with a substitution potential of more than 70 percent. That means that at least 70 percent of the tasks within a particular job could be automated.
The researchers analyzed data from 2016 to 2019 and saw a rise in the potential to substitute tasks, particularly in specialized and expert jobs. The substitution potential rose slowlier in low-skilled professions.
The scholars conclude that this trend is due to the maturity of certain technologies. AI, for instance, has reached a higher level, and it has the capability to automate office tasks from accounting to marketing analysis.
Study of the week indicates that digital technologies don’t displace workers on a large scale yet — but they show how we work
This week, the Work of The Future department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published an interesting study called ‘Digital Transformation in a White Collar Firm: Implications for Workers Across a Continuum of Jobs and Skills.’
The authors of the paper investigated to which degree technological advancements displace workers and what exactly changes. While they found the need for more training and a slow-down in recruiting in certain areas, the scholars conclude that technological advancements mainly change the way we work:
What we are seeing right now is a transformation of how we do things, but not a replacement of people. We are seeing demands for new skills and organizations, but not large-scale replacement.
While it may not be large-scale replacement, demand for new skills is occurring and creates job insecurity for a certain subset of workers. Automation caused most of these jobs to generally increase in skill requirements and decrease in tediousness. Across the skills continuum, these digital transformations and related organizational innovations required workers to spend more time on creative problem-solving and/or customer service. While this may be a valuable outcome for the incumbent workers who are willing to adapt and prefer less menial work, firm managers alluded to a sizeable cohort within the firm who may be left behind.
As of now, mass displacements don’t seem to be a large issue, but the risk of job loss is growing for people who are not capable or unwilling to learn new skills.
Free MIT webinar on the future of manufacturing
On July 21st, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s ‘Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab’ will host a free webinar on the digital transformation of manufacturing. At 10 AM Eastern Time/ 4 PM Central European Time, William B. Bonvillian (Lecturer, Science Technology and Society and Political Science Departments, MIT Senior Director) and Dr. George Westerman (Principal Research Scientist/ Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management) will discuss how automation, sensors, and data science change the nature of manufacturing work.
If you’re interested, you can register HERE.
Recommendation of the week: A comprehensive documentary on AI
Artificial intelligence is going to change the way we work — but how does AI work? Many people struggle to comprehend the capabilities of AI. Is it brilliant? Will it replace workers? What challenges are related to AI?
The DW documentary ‘Artificial intelligence and algorithms: pros and cons’ go straight to the point and explains everything you need to know in less than 43 minutes: