Artificial Intelligence, at the moment, is not capable of replacing humans in most of the jobs in a cost-efficient manner. This was revealed in a new study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study comes in the midst of concerns that the rapid advancement of AI carries the potential to impact the livelihood of millions of job-seekers the world over.
The recent MIT study specifically focused on jobs where ‘computer vision’ was employed to assess whether AI can replace humans in an economically viable manner. Computer vision is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is used for obtaining meaningful information from digital images and other visual inputs. As of now, its most ubiquitous applications are observed in object detection systems for autonomous driving or in helping sort photos into categories on smartphones.
As per the study, only 23 per cent of workers can be replaced by AI in a cost-effective manner, that too if measured in terms of dollar wages. AI-powered virtual recognition devices and systems are hugely expensive to install and maintain. Humans might end up doing the job more economically and equally effectively.
“‘Machines will steal our jobs.” This is a refrain that is frequently heard from all quarters of the professional world during times of rapid technological change. Now, such anxiety seems to have re-emerged with the creation of large language models. The researchers from MIT feel so, and have stated as much in their 45-page paper titled ‘Beyond AI Exposure’. “We find that only 23% of worker compensation ‘exposed’ to AI computer vision would be cost-effective for firms to automate because of the large upfront costs of AI systems,” they concluded.
Sectors Where The Application Of AI Is Economical As On Date
Computer vision’s cost-benefit ratio is best in sectors as retail, transportation, and warehousing, notably dominated by Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. The potential also extends to healthcare, according to the study. The authors suggest that a more assertive AI deployment, especially through AI-as-a-service subscriptions, could enhance viability and broaden applications.
Funded by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, the study has made use of online surveys and gathered data on around 1,000 visually-assisted tasks across 800 occupations. Presently, only 3 per cent of these tasks can be cost-effectively automated. However, the researchers anticipate a potential increase to 40 per cent by 2030, subject to falling data costs and improved accuracy.
IMF’s Warning
The advent of advanced AI models like ChatGPT and its competitors like Google’s Bard has raised concerns about massive job displacement. These chatbots exhibit proficiency in tasks that were previously exclusive to humans. The International Monetary Fund cautioned last week that nearly 40 per cent of global jobs could be impacted, and stressed upon the need for policymakers to carefully balance AI’s potential with potential negative consequences.
Bengali