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Are Robots Eating Our Jobs? Not According To AI Posted on : Aug 28 - 2020

Automation has been gradually transforming the workplace for years (think Excel spreadsheets or chatbots). As artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning systems that can learn from each other become more prevalent and smarter (think Alexa or IBM Watson), they continue to replace more manual, repetitive job tasks. Consequently, automation and robots are changing more jobs globally at breakneck speed.

A McKinsey Global Institute report suggests that between 400 million to 800 million jobs worldwide will be lost due to automation by 2030. The report claims that the U.S. could lose between 16 to 54 million jobs by 2030. The pace at which robots are entering our workforce is staggering. Oxford Economics expects robots and automation to replace 20 million (8.5%) global manufacturing jobs by 2030.

Keep in mind that these predictions came before anyone predicted the Covid-19 pandemic or its impact on our workforce. The pandemic has made the need for digital transformation and automation more urgent as the critical need to work from home, physical distancing and contactless become the new normal.

The pandemic has supercharged digital transformation and the future of work.

While many of us are at home making difficult adjustments to our personal lives to contend with the pandemic — companies, governments, federal agencies, academia, policy-makers and public and private health and safety organizations around the globe are placing their digital transformation plans on the fast track to prepare for the "future of work."

As a result of the pandemic, the "future of work" is upon us now, and there's no time for stagnation in this great time of change. Businesses are either stepping into the next digital era now, or they're being left behind.

While workforce automation job loss statistics paint a doomsday picture of robots quickly replacing workers, it's left many thinking that robots will one day completely replace the need for humans in the workplace. However, experts predict just the opposite. The path toward digital transformation is shining bright with the emergence of new jobs, new job types and elevated job roles. And it's no surprise the demand is coming from AI.

AI is replacing jobs while creating new ones and new job roles — profound benefits to the global economy await their arrival.

According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2018, 133 million new jobs will be created by AI by the end of this year (2020). Gartner reports that the business value created by AI will reach $3.9 trillion in 2022. While IDC recently predicted that global AI spending will reach an estimated $97.9 billion by 2023. Either way, investment in AI will be a prominent market trend. IDC also predicts the number of software robots (i.e., digital workers) entering the workforce will increase globally by 50% next year. These digital workers and new AI jobs represent the new division of labor between humans and machines (and our evolving co-dependency that I wrote about last year). View More