Technology is not enough: Potential job displacement in an AI-driven future

Much has been made recently about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace — often accompanied by apocalyptic predictions about what that means for human jobs. This paper discusses job displacement in the face of advancing technology; technological advancement has always rendered certain jobs obsolete, but it has also always generated new jobs and industries in their place. For example, Henry Ford’s Model T created the demand that led to an explosion of growth in the hospitality industry as cars became affordable. While AI is an extremely powerful tool, the fact is that humans possess certain indispensable attributes that robots and AI cannot match. Human attributes such as flexibility, soft skills, understanding of context and a moral compass, among others, are characteristics that are not likely to be offered by machines any time soon. People also have played a key role in a number of critical supply chain situations, such as major disruptions. To be used to their full potential, tools like AI will require human guidance and ingenuity — meaning that rather than job replacement, these technologies will enable job augmentation. AI is surely poised to fundamentally alter human work and jobs, but it is not likely to replace them outright.