Benjamin Todd, a writer focused on AI and employment, discusses the imminent threat of job loss due to automation while revealing a silver lining. He explains how AI will devalue certain skills but elevate others, urging listeners to adapt. Todd outlines four key skills that will remain valuable: creativity, social intelligence, strategic thinking for AI deployment, and the ability to manage complex tasks. He emphasizes that embracing these skills can not only secure jobs but potentially lead to increased wages in a rapidly evolving job market.
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insights INSIGHT
Automation Shifts Skill Values
Automation reduces the value of some skills but increases others that it can't replicate.
Bank clerks became more employed due to ATMs making banking cheaper and more locations feasible.
insights INSIGHT
Employment Curve in Automation
Automation initially boosts employment by increasing productivity but can reduce it with thoroughgoing automation.
The pattern from the Industrial Revolution shows employment rises then falls after automation.
insights INSIGHT
Automation Can Boost Economy
Automation creates new jobs and wealth but shifts workforce distribution vastly.
Economic output could multiply with automation, raising wages for remaining non-automated tasks.
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About half of people are worried they’ll lose their job to AI. They’re right to be concerned: AI can now complete real-world coding tasks on GitHub, generate photorealistic video, drive a taxi more safely than humans, and do accurate medical diagnosis. And over the next five years, it’s set to continue to improve rapidly. Eventually, mass automation and falling wages are a real possibility.
But what’s less appreciated is that while AI drives down the value of skills it can do, it drives up the value of skills it can't. Wages (on average) will increase before they fall, as automation generates a huge amount of wealth, and the remaining tasks become the bottlenecks to further growth. ATMs actually increased employment of bank clerks — until online banking automated the job much more.
Your best strategy is to learn the skills that AI will make more valuable, trying to ride the wave of automation. This article covers what those skills are, as well as tips on how to start learning them.
80,000 Hours Podcast 