AI: Do my job, but don’t take it

AI and automation have long been causing ripples in the world of work as machines and machine learning algorithms become more efficient at doing many of the tasks we do for a living. This year we have also seen how even creative tasks are within the capabilities of AI with impressive artworks regularly being created by protocols like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion and even AI copywriting programs like Lex and Jasper becoming increasingly popular. A new report by The Harris Poll, however, indicates that while we may be worried that robots are going to take our jobs, we are also secretly hoping that they will do them for us.

The Harris Poll report found that 72% of Americans would happily delegate mundane tasks to AI algorithms so that they could have more time to grow and focus on more rewarding tasks such as managing teams and projects. Surveys have also found that workers, particularly among the Gen Z generation, would prefer to delegate these tasks to AIs so that they could spend more time with friends and family and enjoy a healthier work/life balance.

The findings of this report are striking as they cut right through the arguments that have caused so much fear among workers relating to robots taking their jobs. Instead of robots taking our jobs, they should be doing them for us and taking much of the emotional and mental strain that goes with them, which of course they won’t feel.

It is good to see workers asserting their feelings in this way as ultimately, nobody is going to give workers anything for nothing as the world moves toward offering fully automated services. In a world that already sees algorithms managing human workforces as if they are robots, as is done in Amazon warehouses for example, there is no reason at all to expect a fair settlement in an automated world. It will only be through well-organized unity and solidarity that the workers of tomorrow will have machines doing their jobs for them rather taking them from them, which is why it is good to see that 72% of American workers agree on this issue.

In other AI news, Meta has just released details of a new AI protocol that is able to successfully negotiate with humans and build alliances.

Image via: NDLA