Table of Contents
How to Remain Economically Relevant as a Scientist as Robots Takeover Jobs
For decades, humanity has fretted over the loss of employment as a result of technological changes evidenced by Artificial Intelligence. Robots are feared to replace human beings in basically all spheres ultimately. Though general Artificial Intelligence and its full automation may take a while, robots will obviously engage in more tasks thus marginally reducing over-reliance on the human workforce (Smith & Anderson, 2014). Virtually all fields are affected, more so science. Nonetheless, scientists, in trying to stay relevant, may take advantage of the development of Artificial Intelligence to ensure job security. There are numerous ways this can be made possible. The demand for tech talent, for instance, is increasing thus creating more job opportunities. IT jobs have particularly been noted as the most difficult to fill (Qureshi & Syed, 2014). This is especially due to the constant technological transformation in various fields. New job requirements, as well as innovation of new technologies, necessitate for new and improved skills. For instance, focusing more on computer science will immensely contribute towards being relevant even in an Artificial Intelligence era (Frey & Osborne, 2017). The area will continue to be significant as Artificial Intelligence continues to develop.
As a scientist, emotional intelligence and social intelligence are elements that can be capitalized on as they are unique to humankind. Creativity and innovative thinking in the field of science will equally ensure one’s relevance is not done away with (Serrat, 2017). These are, therefore, areas that machines such as robots cannot outdo humans. Robots do not have feelings like humans do and there are instances where human touch is requisite. Equally, Artificial Intelligence presents enormous opportunities in the scientific field (Trilling, 2017; Dupoux, 2016). For instance, the demand for tech talent is equally increasing thus creating more job opportunities. There is notable shortage worldwide of data scientists, programmers, IT specialists, as well as experts in cybersecurity. History has shown that technology has often created more opportunities than eliminating them. For instance, with the dominance of Artificial Intelligence, there will be a continued need for the coding and building of machines (Trilling, 2017).
Artificial Intelligence will benefit scientists in areas of scientific research. For instance, identification of flawed statistics or reporting can easily be detected. Important statistics of research which are missing could be easily identified and evaluated with the intention of finding out if the statistics that were applied were flawed. Equally, Artificial Intelligence has an important benefit to scientists whereby data that has been modified to achieve a certain-desired outcome can be detected. Further, revealing of research trends is essential in any given field and especially in scientific studies. Through Artificial Intelligence, scientists are better placed to understand the existing trends within a particular area. Even so, it is notable that while Artificial Intelligence brings on board numerous benefits, the ability to swiftly adapt to it and ensure the highest possible outcomes is central to remaining relevant even in the era of the machine workforce.
Conclusively, the reliance on robots is not an end in itself, but rather a new phase in the growth of humanity. Surviving in such an era, therefore, requires people to evaluate a number of issues and to make the necessary adjustments so as to benefit from Artificial Intelligence, rather than to lose to it.
- Dupoux, E. (2016). Cognitive Science in the era of Artificial Intelligence: A roadmap for reverse-engineering the infant language-learner. arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.08723.
- Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2017). The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerisation?. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, 254-280.
- Qureshi, M. O., & Syed, R. S. (2014). The impact of robotics on employment and motivation of employees in the service sector, with special reference to health care. Safety and health at work, 5(4), 198-202.
- Serrat, O. (2017). Understanding and developing emotional intelligence. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 329-339). Springer Singapore.
- Smith, A., & Anderson, J. (2014). AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs. Pew Research Center, 6.
- Trilling, D. (2017). Robots are taking jobs, but also creating them: Research review.