No proof that artificial intelligence and automation will take away jobs, says new report
- There is no ‘conclusive evidence’ that more jobs are being lost than created, according to think tank the Luohan Academy
Concerns about job losses from the wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots across industries may be exaggerated, according to a new study.
There is no “conclusive evidence” that more jobs are being lost than created, as global unemployment rates have stayed relatively stable since 1991 even with the addition of 1.6 billion people into the global workforce, said the report Digital Technology and Inclusive Growth by independent think tank the Luohan Academy.
“Robots and artificial intelligence are still in the early stages of development and their ability to replicate sophisticated reasoning remains a matter of conjecture,” the report, which was released on Thursday, said.
Authors of the study include academics from prominent institutions, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the London School of Economics and New York University.
The Luohan Academy was founded last year by Jack Ma, executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, to address universal challenges faced by societies arising from the rapid development of digital technologies. New York-listed Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
The findings published by the Luohan Academy come as China makes a concerted push in the development of AI technologies as part of efforts to secure the country’s future in the next technological and industrial revolution. China, the world’s second largest economy, is also the biggest market for industrial robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics.
The practical applications of AI are huge. Machine learning and image recognition technologies, which are fields under AI, are now being used to advance medical imaging to diagnose cancer, make manufacturing processes more efficient and powering self-driving cars.
China’s AI ambitions play a key role in its “Made in China 2025” initiative designed to move domestic hi-tech industries – from robotics and aerospace to new materials and new energy vehicles – up the value chain.
Recent developments have fanned fears of robots taking over jobs from humans. Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, replaced some 60,000 factory workers with robots in 2016. The Taiwan-based company, known by its trade name Foxconn Technology Group, plans to replace 80 per cent of its workforce with robots in five to 10 years. It currently employs about 1.3 million people in mainland China, where it makes Apple’s iPhones and other devices for major tech brands.
The increased use of AI and robotics will eventually mean greater disruption in the labour market, especially for workers who are unable to adapt to change in their industries, according to the Luohan Academy study.
A 2018 report on the long-term impact of automation by consultancy PwC found that new jobs will be created because of technological advances, most of which will “result from the general boost to productivity, incomes and wealth that these technologies will bring”.
Separately, the Luohan Academy report also found that “super platforms” created by major hi-tech companies do not have the market cornered, and are still subject to competitive pressure.
Companies like Alibaba, Tencent Holdings and Baidu have invested in a range of industries, including food delivery, payments and digital entertainment, to create complete ecosystems for their users and better glean data to help them offer targeted services and advertisements.
“Competing companies typically offer differentiated products,” the report said, adding that this enables customers to patronise more than one platform.