Artificial Intelligence: Mustafa Suleyman Discusses Impact on Labor Market at Davos Forum
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, a Google-acquired AI lab, made a significant contribution to the debate about the impact of AI on the labor market during the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. In an interview with CNB, Suleyman, who is a defender of AI, stated that AI performs functions with radically different outcomes: it improves the efficiency of existing operations, generating significant savings for companies and potentially replacing human workers in repetitive tasks. Additionally, AI enables the creation of new operations, generating new employment opportunities. These two forces, according to Suleyman, will impact the labor market in the near future in an unpredictable way. Some experts predict that by 2024, the impact of AI will be a source of disappointment for many, as it eliminates jobs and fails to meet the expectations of generating significant improvements in productivity. However, Suleyman believes that AI will complement human work, not replace it entirely. Academic studies support Suleyman's perspective: in 2013, a study by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne estimated that 47% of US employment is at risk of being automated by the year 2030. Moreover, a recent McKinsey study concluded that nearly 12 million US workers will need to change jobs for 2030 due to the impact of AI. However, Suleyman and others do not solely rely on expert opinions. They also look for real-world examples, such as BMW's strategic collaboration with the robotics startup, iRobot. BMW recently announced a partnership with iRobot to introduce humanoid robots to replace workers in manufacturing in Spartanburg. However, it is important to note that the robots used by Figaro are not typical industrial robots designed exclusively for specific tasks, but rather are designed to augment the workforce and expand the scope of manufacturing. The plant in Spartanburg currently employs 11,000 workers, and the implementation of robots is expected to gradually increase, while the timeline for the full deployment is estimated to be within one decade. The plant in Spartanburg is not unique: it is one of the few plants in the US to have seen the highest volume of BMW production, producing over 1,500 cars per day. If the entire industry were to be automated, it would have a significant impact, both directly and symbolically, on the labor market. Supporters of this approach argue that robots will be tasked with repetitive and dangerous tasks, while humans will be tasked with more creative and complex tasks. However, it is important to note that the exit of robots from the workforce may push some workers into obsolete skills, leading to a potential rise in unemployment.