Are we actually prepared for AI?

Artificial Intelligence; AI has been a much-discussed topic across the tech world recently and it is no doubt that the AI generation will soon be upon us, but are we actually prepared? How can we prepare for the economic and societal impacts of AI when it is evolving so quickly and nobody actually knows the potential impacts?

In a recent interview, even Hilary Clinton has expressed her concern for the impacts of AI, particularly digital surveillance and job automation. We can see where her concern comes from, several arguments exist as to how jobs will be impacted by automation, and it is complicated to measure the extent of this threat. Industrialised robots have already replaced jobs involving manual labour and unskilled jobs but as AI also poses as a threat to white collared jobs such as accounting and law. What will happen with new innovations such as driverless cars and in-home devices penetrate society and become the norm?

AI taking over jobs is a huge concern if driverless cars exist what will happen to truck drivers, delivery drivers, cab and even Uber drivers? All these people and people from countless other industries will be jobless, how can the economy and society prepare for this influx of jobless people? The economic consequences will be widespread as companies lay off workers in the pursuit of efficiency and therefore employment of AI. Arguments exist proving that workers can upskill and operate AI

Another concern posed is digital surveillance. As devices seep further into our lives and become ingrained into our existence it is worrying to think about the effects of being surrounded by digital devices. Are we all being spied on by the government like some widespread mega episode of Big Brother or The Truman Show? No matter how much people try to avoid surveillance, it is practically unavoidable nobody knows the extent of public surveillance and whether this has further infiltrated into our homes.

It is hard to imagine a world without the help of technology but when will it become overwhelming and how will we prepare for the repercussions?

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Rebecca Luong

A business graduate from Monash University, Rebecca Luong is a motivated and passionate marketer infatuated with all aspects of digital marketing. Her main areas of interest are SEO and social media. Rebecca strives to use her broad skills and knowledge to deliver quality content and marketing and to inspire others to realise the power of digital marketing.

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