Job Shift

Technological advances such as AI have replaced jobs in the past, there is no arguing that, but claiming that they are replacing workers on a large scale is hard to say. Since machines are often used to enhance a worker as opposed to replace them, it is hard to pinpoint the impact drastic changes such as machinery or AI can have on a market. When businesses use AI as an enhancement to their work it raises productivity. Raising productivity in turn means the business can do the same work with less employees but this also means they can expand productions and perhaps expand into new markets, creating new jobs elsewhere; a job shift (Rotman, 2013, Dr Watson section, para. 17). Expansion can have a polarizing impact on the market depending on what jobs the expansion is eliminating and which jobs it is creating. Are they of equal pay? Do they have a similar barrier for entry? These are important questions to ask when imagining a job shift. AI will create a job shift in the market, but will it be so drastic and swift? Rotman (2013) reports that, David Autor, and economist at MIT says he: “…doubts that technology could account for such an abrupt change in total employment” (New Economy section, para. 11). History suggests that more jobs will be created than ones being destroyed, as we have been through this paradigm shift before. Lomas talks with John Carnet, a high ranking member of the telecoms industry, Carnet believes automation will be a job creation opportunity. Carnet goes on to say that workers should be open to lifelong learning in regard the job shift that will arise with the spread of AI (Lomas, 2018, para. 10-12). The image shows the large sector shifts caused by technology while agriculture was shifting to an automated job. Jobs were created elsewhere for workers to "shift" to and overall employment was up. Despite more jobs being created this still causes a temporary disruption to millions of lives which has a negative impact for that period of time. The speed at which the decline occurs largely depends on the country and how the technology is being implemented. China's workforce had a drastic drop in agriculture workers from 1990 to 2015, versus the almost one hundred year transition the United States went through (Lund & Manyika, 2017, para. 2). Even though overall employment continued to grow in both of these countries, there is no arguing the shift caused a negative disruption.