Books To Get You Thinking
The previous column of Books to Get You Thinking featured titles that explored the history of civilization through a continuous cycle of inventions, innovations and technological changes that enabled a transition to the modern world. This month we look at a selection of books from the Mercer County Library System that highlight the transformative and growing influence of artificial intelligence in many different areas of science, health, finance, the labor market and employment. During the Industrial Revolution, the introduction of machines evoked growing concerns about the replacement of human jobs. However, in the years that followed, the use of machines increased productivity levels and resulted in unprecedented growth in output and employment. Today we find ourselves standing at the cusp of another new breakthrough that has the potential of transforming the way business and economic systems run and perform while causing a displacement in the existing employment structure. The fundamental question is how the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our economic system can be reconciled with adequate work opportunities for all, ensuring everyone participates and benefits from the new and changing technology.
The Future of Work by Darrell West
Artificial Intelligence technology integrated in numerous manufacturing processes, business operations and consumer services delivery is setting the stage for a more automated society. Self-driving cars, algorithm-driven precision medicine and care delivery, remote monitoring of patients using sensors, product recommendations and personalized marketing, and customer service though intelligent bots are just a few examples of how AI innovations are poised to bring disruptive changes in our lives. In this important work, Darrell West examines the far-reaching impact AI technology will have on the composition of the workforce, on the education system and on public policy. Advancements in machine learning empower businesses with increasingly sophisticated tools that can execute complex tasks traditionally performed by a skilled labor force. Advances in cloud computing technology and mobile networking are accelerating the rapid deployment of the internet of things with the capacity to collect enormous amounts of data and signals in real time, enabling faster decisions and automation. More and more operations will be performed through the integration of algorithms and powerful computers, changing and transforming business and commerce. This then will have direct ramifications on the composition of the labor force resulting in a shift away from traditional employment opportunities. The societal implications of the dwindling number of people employed by businesses and growing unemployment could be severe, given that our current economic system is based on a majority of the population dependent on employers for their livelihood and healthcare benefits. To mitigate the repercussion of structural changes and an economy in transition, the federal government would need to step in with appropriate economic and political reforms that include broadening the definition of what constitutes a job to include work valuable to the community that is currently not remunerated, such as caregiving. Health and other benefits need to be delinked from traditional nine to five employment and benefits could be made portable between jobs.
Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI by Paul Daugherty and H. James Wilson
The authors provide a valuable perspective on the vital role that AI will play in accelerating innovation, enhancing productivity and expanding company revenue in the years to come. Dougherty and Wilson give a lucid picture of how humans working in conjunction with machines and software will transform critical business processes and economic factors that govern large enterprises. The authors emphasize that public discourse on man versus machine is misleading - the focus must shift to collaboration between man and machines with AI complementing and augmenting human capabilities to increase productivity levels. Humans can focus on the complex decision-making that only human brains are capable of providing, while machines are used to perform intensive, tedious and repetitive tasks such as basic data collection, information extraction and hypothesis generation. Today, AI applications are being used in research and development, marketing and sales. Based on research covering 1,500 different organizations, the authors present the basic principles and tenets that companies need to follow to successfully deploy AI tools in the day-to-day operation of enterprise. They highlight the importance of shifting focus from automating processes to reinventing processes through an interaction between humans and machines. Successful AI applications would also need to focus on building more expansive data supply chains while, at the same time, management fosters a work environment that encourages a break from the traditional ways of implementing processes to novel practices that integrate AI tools.
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford
The book, a winner of the 2015 Financial Times and McKinsey Book of the year Award, stresses the importance of adapting to the repercussions and implications of advancing technology. While recognizing the many benefits of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and the internet of things, Ford provides powerful arguments and reasoning to show that this transformative technology would translate into machines taking over jobs in ever-widening areas of the economy, including work performed by highly skilled people today, such as doctors and lawyers. A few centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution caused a major disruption in the labor force but that was accompanied by unprecedented economic growth and the creation of new jobs. The situation is very different today with robots and AI able to implement work faster, more efficiently, and at lower costs than labor. The result will be fewer jobs, rising unemployment and inequality, with income and economic gains skewed in favor of a few and a drain in the purchasing power of the middle class. Changes in the education system and new training programs, while beneficial, would not be enough to mitigate the problem of rising unemployment. To ensure a future where humans can collaborate with machines to bring about prosperity for all, Ford advocates for a fundamental key change - the introduction of a well-designed guaranteed basic income system. The question is whether this policy change could be implemented in the face of the political challenges that it would inevitably face.
The Future of Work by Darrell West Artificial Intelligence technology integrated in numerous manufacturing processes, business operations and consumer services delivery is setting the stage for a more automated society. Self-driving cars, algorithm-driven precision medicine and care delivery, remote monitoring of patients using sensors, product recommendations and personalized marketing, and customer service though intelligent bots are just a few examples of how AI innovations are poised to bring disruptive changes in our lives. In this important work, Darrell West examines the far-reaching impact AI technology will have on the composition of the workforce, on the education system and on public policy. Advancements in machine learning empower businesses with increasingly sophisticated tools that can execute complex tasks traditionally performed by a skilled labor force. Advances in cloud computing technology and mobile networking are accelerating the rapid deployment of the internet of things with the capacity to collect enormous amounts of data and signals in real time, enabling faster decisions and automation. More and more operations will be performed through the integration of algorithms and powerful computers, changing and transforming business and commerce. This then will have direct ramifications on the composition of the labor force resulting in a shift away from traditional employment opportunities. The societal implications of the dwindling number of people employed by businesses and growing unemployment could be severe, given that our current economic system is based on a majority of the population dependent on employers for their livelihood and healthcare benefits. To mitigate the repercussion of structural changes and an economy in transition, the federal government would need to step in with appropriate economic and political reforms that include broadening the definition of what constitutes a job to include work valuable to the community that is currently not remunerated, such as caregiving. Health and other benefits need to be delinked from traditional nine to five employment and benefits could be made portable between jobs.
Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI by Paul Daugherty and H. James Wilson The authors provide a valuable perspective on the vital role that AI will play in accelerating innovation, enhancing productivity and expanding company revenue in the years to come. Dougherty and Wilson give a lucid picture of how humans working in conjunction with machines and software will transform critical business processes and economic factors that govern large enterprises. The authors emphasize that public discourse on man versus machine is misleading - the focus must shift to collaboration between man and machines with AI complementing and augmenting human capabilities to increase productivity levels. Humans can focus on the complex decision-making that only human brains are capable of providing, while machines are used to perform intensive, tedious and repetitive tasks such as basic data collection, information extraction and hypothesis generation. Today, AI applications are being used in research and development, marketing and sales. Based on research covering 1,500 different organizations, the authors present the basic principles and tenets that companies need to follow to successfully deploy AI tools in the day-to-day operation of enterprise. They highlight the importance of shifting focus from automating processes to reinventing processes through an interaction between humans and machines. Successful AI applications would also need to focus on building more expansive data supply chains while, at the same time, management fosters a work environment that encourages a break from the traditional ways of implementing processes to novel practices that integrate AI tools.
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford The book, a winner of the 2015 Financial Times and McKinsey Book of the year Award, stresses the importance of adapting to the repercussions and implications of advancing technology. While recognizing the many benefits of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and the internet of things, Ford provides powerful arguments and reasoning to show that this transformative technology would translate into machines taking over jobs in ever-widening areas of the economy, including work performed by highly skilled people today, such as doctors and lawyers. A few centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution caused a major disruption in the labor force but that was accompanied by unprecedented economic growth and the creation of new jobs. The situation is very different today with robots and AI able to implement work faster, more efficiently, and at lower costs than labor. The result will be fewer jobs, rising unemployment and inequality, with income and economic gains skewed in favor of a few and a drain in the purchasing power of the middle class. Changes in the education system and new training programs, while beneficial, would not be enough to mitigate the problem of rising unemployment. To ensure a future where humans can collaborate with machines to bring about prosperity for all, Ford advocates for a fundamental key change - the introduction of a well-designed guaranteed basic income system. The question is whether this policy change could be implemented in the face of the political challenges that it would inevitably face.
- Nita Mathur, West Windsor Branch
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