AI and The Workplace Dilemma

Back in the start of the 21st century, the internet itself had posed a threat to many businesses and work-ethics. While the ones working in the tech industry saw the potential for better negotiations and expansion of opportunity, others saw it as a dangerous transition of society that can damage the well-being of human mentality. They might’ve actually been right on both ends of that spectrum because of what we experience in our lives today. The internet has both been a useful tool and a damaging aspect of our lives that has been normalized. Our dependency on it is integrated in many parts of our lives. The work force has dominantly shifted to the use of the internet for applications and on-boarding, as well as keeping up with updates and communication. Nonetheless, we’ve reached a point of relative congruency when it comes to the way that we use it.

Now, we find ourselves at yet another crossroads, but with the A.I. boom. People across all generations are seeing the affects of A.I. in their day-to-day use of the internet and even already within their work places and education systems. Here we have a digital method that can generate and process information in a way much quicker than a human could. Many employers find themselves debating if having people is more or less efficient than opting in for these A.I. systems. They could have more efficiency in terms of the pace of the work, the expectations and deadlines, and the amount of money being saved for the company. However, that also comes at the realization that A.I. is not to be completely relied upon. Mistakes happen with technology on a consistent basis across the many people that use it. We don’t have anything that could be considered perfect and completely safe. Relying on A.I. could risk the company money if the information is inaccurate or translation errors have occurred. Sure, this also happens with people, but the errors with people allow these companies to scapegoat the employees and chain of business operations. This doesn’t detract from the fact that some work places have already created public sites that seemingly already use automation for work instead of human workers.

A company like Amazon for example, has already been seen using drones that ride along the side-walk to delivery packages to customers. They even have ones that are airborne, much like the ones people use for fun and recreational purposes. Recently, it’s said that they’re thinking of getting rid of employees in favor of robots that could potentially replace over half a million workers. This is said to both benefit the human workers that remain employed but at the expense of those who will be cut. It’s no secret by now that these mega-corporations don’t give two flying fucks about anything but their own best interest, and why would they? Humans spend years working underneath their brand only to then be out-casted by them, with the typical “Sorry for the inconvenience, but we appreciate the work you’ve done! Best of luck on your endeavors!” that doesn’t actually mean jack shit. We know this. That said, this seems to be the future of the industry, if not partially already the present reality. Many have come to the conclusion that this would only affect the industry in negative ways, causing them to actually lose money instead of gaining money. If there aren’t any workers, how will anyone be able to afford the products and services? Fair enough. Although, these companies are skilled in understanding the nature of people. Most of them won’t consider taking those kinds of risks or leaps unless they’re aware of what the effect would be on their company. While this shift is just waiting to happen, there will likely be another shift that follows. One that integrates people alongside the use of A.I. with a different way of training and work place policy. Much like the explanation before about the internet’s arrival, it was a similar situation. There had to be cuts and sacrifices made before there could be another emergence of work and opportunities that came to be. Much like how many of us couldn’t predict the kind of work that the internet could’ve created overtime, the same applies to A.I. work. Many types of work have already been prominent for this kind of field in the face of being a contributor towards refining the machine learning models. This concept will likely expand overtime because the need for humans will always be necessary no matter how far technology advances.

For society to flow, there has to be a system in place that is reasonable enough for it function. Reasonable doesn’t equate to fair, but it will feed the cycle for certain, for better or worse. The only way out of this is by finding some form of success outside of said system and traditional forms of work. Which can be much more liberating, but definitely much harder to do and maintain than having a consistent job. Your money wouldn’t always be guaranteed to look the same as it would if you had a reliable income, but it would give you freedom to set your own terms. The opposite end of that is by working at a regular job or career under the pretense of being hired will risk the chance of being laid-off at a moment’s notice. Basically at this point, it’s damned if you do, or damned if you don’t. Per the premise of this topic, there are many job titles that seem to be at risk of laying people off due to the rise or A.I. systems. This includes but is not limited to: Warehouse Workers, Customer Service Representatives, Data Entry Clerks, Telemarketers, Cashiers, Proofreaders, Coders, Graphic Designers, Book keepers, Delivery Drivers, Truck Drivers, Teachers, Advertisers, Computer Support Specialists, Assembly Line Workers, and Transportation systems amongst others. That puts it all into a broader perspective once you realize that those are basically the vast majority of jobs that people have, even upon having degrees and licenses that advocate the credibility of their profession. Admittedly, sometimes I think to myself that this would be for the better in a lot of areas. For example, how many times have you spoken to a customer service representative and realized that those people don’t have any idea in the slightest about what the fuck their job is? You might have to hop on the phone a few times or more just to get the service that could’ve probably been solved with one good competent and patient person. It’s frustrating, and half of this process is already taken by an automated system that guides you through your issues before you even get the chance to reach an actual person. An A.I. would be more efficient, especially the ones they have that are trained to respond to human interaction on a similar and interpersonal level.

I myself have been interviewed by A.I. systems that spoke to me in a rather convincing human-like tone. There’s always that gray area that gives away that it isn’t an actual human, which is sometimes both good and bad. Most times, I would just prefer to talk to a person about my gripes or needs when referring to a product, service, or application. Then, I start to realize that a lot of those people aren’t necessarily behaving in human ways anyway. They read from scripts, or they have certain demeanors that lack genuine authenticity because that’s what they’re trained to do. Trained behavior is pretty much the entire premise of having machine learning models. So if the people are trying to be more robotic, but the A.I. is trying to be more human, where is the middle-ground? That has yet to be seen in midst of the frenzy that we’re witnessing as we enter yet another age in the digital landscape. We haven’t yet entered the time where humans can be replaced, but we can clearly see that these A.I. systems are undeniably better at some of these roles (When they function properly). Life today is making many drastic changes that haven’t been completely accustomed to by many, but all we can really do is move forward as we always have. At the end of the day, people are responsible for how we choose to shape our society. If A.I. poses as a threat to the working class people, it will be known and it will be seen. To what those consequences might be? We’ve yet to see, but either way, we can’t turn a blind eye to the future that awaits us. Much like the people who denounced the internet, or even technology at its conception, you either learn to adapt or learn to live a life of opposition. And for all we know? There could even be a time when there isn’t much an option at all.