[The Editors' Verdict] The Concept of Jobs Must Change in the Age of AI

Published 13 Nov.2020 15:21(KST)

"Seven out of ten office workers responded that artificial intelligence (AI) could perform their tasks on their behalf." This is the result of a survey on AI and jobs conducted last month by the employment portal Incruit and the untact part-time job interview platform Albakol targeting office workers. Analyzing by occupation, the industry that felt most likely to be replaced by AI was transportation and logistics (71.4%). This was followed by IT and telecommunications (69.6%) and finance and insurance (64.3%) sectors, which also responded that they could be replaced by AI. On the other hand, occupations still considered irreplaceable by AI included medical, nursing, health, and pharmaceuticals (40.0%), food and beverage (45.5%), and education and lecturing (54.2%).

The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the "The Future of Jobs 2020" report on October 20. It predicted that by 2025, humans and machines will spend equal amounts of time working. In information and data processing fields, machine labor hours are expected to surpass those of humans. Conversely, in decision-making areas, human labor hours are still expected to be longer. It forecasted that by 2025, 85 million jobs in administration, accounting, manufacturing, and other sectors will be replaced by AI. Technological advancement is accelerating, and the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is hastening the future of jobs.

There are countless other studies and surveys on jobs in the AI era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Although the extent varies, all research consistently shows that AI and robots will replace current human jobs.

It is certain that many future jobs will be replaced and automated by AI and robots. For example, in the automotive sector, many car companies are already testing autonomous vehicles that operate without drivers. Especially, the American electric vehicle company Tesla announced last month that fully autonomous driving is possible. If fully autonomous driving truly becomes feasible, privately owned cars could be used like Uber outside of the owner’s commuting hours, generating income and eliminating the need for drivers and taxis. This would cause countless truck drivers, bus drivers, and taxi drivers to lose their jobs. The question is whether AI can create new jobs for them at that time.

Until now, the proposition that humans must have a job and work to live an independent and stable life has been accepted. Will this still be true in the future? With the AI era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is necessary to fundamentally change and newly define the concept of jobs. It is said that in ten years, half of the world’s population will live in an era without jobs. Will jobs like those today still exist in the future? Currently, the millennial generation is struggling hard to get jobs, but no one truly likes their jobs. They are just stuck in rigid hierarchical systems and endure it unwillingly.

The future is said to shift to a gig economy. Everyone will work on tasks they want at the times they want. This also means becoming the owner of a very small business with unique skills rather than working for a company or boss. People will work just enough to find gigs around them to make a living. They can enjoy hobbies like gardening and work intermittently. This signifies the end of hard and forced labor. Most difficult and repetitive tasks will be handled by AI robots, while jobs requiring high-level thinking and judgment will be posted on the internet and performed by the most suitable person.

Jeremy Rifkin predicted the end of labor long ago. Hard and strenuous work will be entrusted to robots, freeing humans from forced labor. Instead of forcibly increasing regular employment, we should accept the significant changes in the concept of future jobs and prepare accordingly.