Automation has a tendency to make certain tasks more important while also making services cheaper. This has been seen throughout history, such as with the growth of weavers during the industrial revolution. The same principle could apply to professions like accounting and medicine, where technology can enhance productivity. The key is to remember that when the cost of something decreases, its demand typically increases. So, rather than AI leading to job loss, it could potentially create more jobs and increase labor demand. Only time will tell.
We revisit POWER TRIP, Intelligence Squared's new podcast investigating the past and future of AI. Carl Miller asks who will win and who will lose, as AI's capabilities begin to threaten jobs and livelihoods. Through the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, automation and globalisation, the workplace has been on the frontlines of changes across wider society. Featuring Kenneth Cukkier, Deputy Executive Editor at The Economist; James Bessen, economist and technologist at Boston University and Darren Jones MP, Chair of the House of Commons business select committee.
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