“In 1965, philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus, a staunch critic of artificial intelligence, boldly claimed that a machine would never beat a human at chess.”

It would only be two years before the sceptical scholar was himself checked by an MIT-developed computer”, according to a UN report.

Humankind started with nothing but stones and bricks. Yet from the Paleolithic Era we built ourselves and clawed ourselves out from the pits of underdevelopment. From the Renaissance period where humans were the centre and the Reformation when religion took centre stage, to the time. Humankind In the Modern era have devoted themselves to the pursuit of logic and science. The Modern Era has been enveloped with machinery, money and materialism, but now Artificial Intelligence has seized the spotlight.

Human strive to manipulate environment

Humans have always strived for and excelled in manipulating the environment, right from earliest times from flint tools to today’s advanced technological artifacts. Artificial Intelligence or AI undoubtedly can be seen as the most notable advancing technology of recent times. AI was originally seen as advancing technology designed for enhanced comfort and efficiency of humankind, but later on it has now started shaping our interactions and decisions subtly yet significantly due to which AI is now present in all walks of life ultimately impacting jobs and employment.

Fascination for human function Replication

One of the spotlights of advancing technology has been to develop machines capable of human functions. Replication of human functions by robots has been regarded as a cornerstone of advancing technologies. It then implies that we should not be surprised that with time we would ourselves eventually develop technology that replaces us in our jobs and makes us unemployed.

Advancing technology with neural networks

With AI, we have realised that humankind has entered an era where machines learn, adapt, and even create using neural networks that mimic the human brain, and algorithms that evolve. Not only we replicated human biomechanical functions but also cognitive, and problem solving functions. Not just that, but Artificial Intelligence seems to have created debatable lines between organic and synthetic life. Heidegger once remarked, “Technology is not equivalent to the essence of technology.” This insight makes us think that beyond the circuits, codes, and algorithms, there exists an essence, an underlying depth to technology. The above philosophical insight challenges the view of technology solely as a tool, suggesting AI’s development blurs lines between labor and automation, potentially reshaping employment dynamics and societal roles profoundly.

Artificial Intelligence is being used in navigation, face recognition, banking, coding algorithms, virtual assistants, fraud detection, autonomous cars, medical diagnosis and even in social networking sites. According to people who use AI on a daily basis, AI can easily help as it is more efficient and has no chance of failure. Humanoids can work without sleeping, eating or resting which will no doubt replace human efforts. Numerous people use ChatGPT as it makes everything more simple and less tiring. Just like the invention of the calculator took our mental arithmetic skills away, Jobs such as ones in healthcare, education and personal trainers such as cosmetologists, coaches, and more are not completely replaced by AI but are majorly influenced by it. AI has taken over low-skilled and repetitive jobs like delivery drivers, electricians, housekeepers, law enforcement officers and such according to a report by McKinsey Institute. The report further states that in the year 2030, around 375 million workers will have lost their occupation.

Autonomy in Advancing technology

Autonomous in AI refers to those behaviors, patterns, or results that were not explicitly programmed but arise organically from complex interactions within the system. These are referred to as emergent behaviours by some. The autonomous functional abilities of AI would be hard to predict, which can be concerning, especially in critical applications like medical diagnoses or autonomous vehicles.

Philosopher Nietzsche’s “will to power” posits that the desire for power is the main driving force in humans and also emphasizes the importance of challenges and struggles in life. If applied to AI then we may assume that one day AI will also have a “will to power” of its own or someone might write an algorithm for it. This further implies that jobs might be taken over by AI if we allow AI to take care of all our hardships and let it take over our autonomy.

Way forward

New trends of job and employment

Some philosophers view AI as lacking in consciousness and merely processing vast amounts of data disconnected from human intent or context. On the other hand the autonomous and emergent behaviours of AI challenge accountability and trust in AI systems as we do not completely understand and control them. We have to be aware of these threats of AI and its autonomy which leads to unpredictability and is challenging to deal with at current level of technological advances. Therefore, we need to develop frameworks to establish responsible use of AI. We also need even more advancement and create jobs towards refinement of AI. The currently employed workers who do not know how to use AI are at risk of unemployment if they do not train and skill up themselves in AI. Artificial Intelligence can take over multiple jobs according to many scientific reports but who would maintain this huge usurping world program? Thereby the jobs will only increase in the IT sector expanding the numerous small fields under each job. Coding of algorithms, and continuous adding of information has started to expand and fields under that have grown. AI skills such as programming, analysing and understanding Artificial Intelligence would be beneficial in the near future. Cloud computing which means the delivery of hosted computer resources will be more in demand. Even skills like cybersecurity where you protect your own data of a device or gadget will be most beneficial in the time to come. This is also proven in a report called Artificial Intelligence and Unemployment by Geeks for Geeks.

Advancing technology and ethics

The use of advancing technologies and Artificial Intelligence comes with some new areas of concern. There are ethical concerns like if an AI exhibits unexpected behaviors, who is responsible? Is it the developer, the user, or the system?

Immanuel Kant’s philosophy underscores the importance of moral reasoning and ethical decision-making, which are uniquely human traits. While machines can follow programmed ethical guidelines, they lack the ability to understand and apply moral principles in the nuanced way humans do. Therefore, humans and jobs will always be needed to navigate ethical dilemmas and ensure the ethical use of technology.

Advancing technologies and Human values

Aristotle’s virtue ethics provides a comprehensive framework for ethical behaviour, emphasising the cultivation of virtuous qualities such as wisdom, courage, and temperance. When applied to AI, this approach promotes the development of systems that not only do tasks effectively, but also make ethical decisions that benefit the greater good.

Aristotle’s emphasis on practical wisdom, or phronesis, is particularly relevant, as it advocates for decision-making that balances moral considerations with practical realities.

In the case of AI, this may entail creating systems capable of navigating complex ethical landscapes, assessing short-term benefits against long-term repercussions, and prioritising human and societal well-being. The universality of these virtues enables a degree of ethical guidance that is broadly relevant across cultures and circumstances, perhaps leading to AI systems that are more aligned with a wide range of human values and societal standards.

Advancing technologies and regulations

Due to the unclear legal regulations guarding the use of advanced technologies and AI it’s usage poses potential threats towards the humans in various ways. Schools must develop practices and policies on how to regulate the use of AI, or use it judiciously.

As is perfectly said by Dr Karim. R. Lakhani, a Harvard Business School Professor, to alleviate AI’s authority in the near future, education institutes, governments, and businesses must collaborate and join hands to provide restraining orders for preventing frauds, deep fakes, scams, phishing, and more. This way a new future with using AI as a tool and not as a substitution of humans would be ensured.

“AI will not replace humans, but few humans with AI will replace the majority of humans without AI”.

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