AI Is the Next Workplace Disrupter--and It's Coming for High-Skilled Jobs
The next wave of labor-saving technology will wear a white collar. Artificial intelligence—programming machines to think more like humans—is expected to alter how Americans work on a scale similar to the impact of robotics and desktop computers. But employees affected by it are much more likely to be in management or professional roles than laborers turning screws or filing papers.
The most vulnerable occupations include marketing specialists, financial advisers and computer programmers—jobs that tend to pay high wages and skew toward male, white and Asian workers, a recent study from the Brookings Institution found. Other jobs most vulnerable to being affected by AI included certain types of engineers, optometrists, graphic designers, software developers and sales managers.
New technology in the workplace has generally been better for higher-skilled workers than for the lower-skilled, said Mark Muro, one of the study’s authors. “Artificial intelligence could play out just the opposite.” While machines have long been able to perform repetitive physical tasks or complex mathematical calculations, AI enables computers to analyze data, predict outcomes, learn from experience by recognizing patterns and make decisions. Such tasks are currently done by professional workers, many with college degrees.
Think, for example, of how a financial adviser analyzes a client’s economic circumstances, income prospects and personal goals to provide guidance on retirement planning. With AI, an algorithm could use the same information to make recommendations. Another example would be the market-research analyst who analyzes consumer spending trends and patterns to recommend an advertising strategy for a new movie or automobile. With AI, a computer could do the same thing. Similarly, medical facilities have started using computers to read X-rays and determine whether images are consistent with a disease such as pneumonia, a task previously performed by radiologists. The technology could free up medical personnel to spend more time with patients or examine less clear-cut cases—and it could reduce the overall need for radiologists.
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Just because a job is exposed to artificial intelligence, though, doesn’t mean it necessarily will go away. It is possible artificial intelligence will allow some workers to dispense with time-consuming tasks such as data analysis, and focus on potentially more profitable activities, such as meeting clients. Those workers could become more productive and command higher wages. Other workers could find their jobs simplified and more easily filled by someone with less education, which could drive down wages in the process. And in other cases, jobs could be replaced entirely by technology.
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