[Market Trends] Andrew Ng on the Impact of AI on Employment | WSJ
📌 No Need to Worry Too Much
Andrew Ng discusses the positive and negative impacts of AI on the workforce over the next 5 years. He anticipates that AI will significantly enhance the productivity of existing jobs and create many new ones. However, while not denying that there will be some job losses, he mentions that it may not be as severe as people currently think.
Ng finds it more useful to think of AI not as automating jobs, but as automating specific tasks. Most jobs can be seen as bundles of tasks, and by using AI to automate or augment these individual tasks, interesting opportunities can be created. In particular, he notes that AI will lead to situations where people using AI will replace those who don't, highlighting that significant changes are already happening in specific areas of work such as customer service and sales operations.
Moreover, the way AI is increasingly being used to automate or augment the work of knowledge workers will bring about productivity improvements for them. Discussing the many opportunities and challenges associated with AI, Ng emphasizes that the advancement of AI technology will have a significant impact on business and society.