Artificial intelligence and automation are continuing to drill deeper into our society.
The reportedmedian annual salaryfor an AI programmer in the UK in 2019 is currently around 60,000.
Meanwhile, the reportedmedian annual salaryfor all workers in the UK is reportedly around 36,611.
The result of widespread automation
Automating routine operations presents a lot of benefits.
But currently, this is far from the case.
Instead, low skilled workers are finding themselves being continually downgraded into increasingly insecure, low-paid roles.
For some people, their jobs have been completely replaced.
In 2013, researchersat Oxford Universitystudied 702 occupational groupings.
Thats a significant number of people.
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The movement is comparable to the shift away from agricultural societies throughout the Industrial Revolution.
Evidence from this can give us some insights to inform policy debates today.
People have been worrying that automation would leave humans without work as far back as the 20th century.
In 1950, John F. Kennedy described automation as a problem that would result in hardship for humans.
15 years later in 1965, an IBM economist said automation would result in a 20-hour workweek.
But it took decades to tackle the injustices of the Industrial Revolution.
This time, we cant afford to wait that long.
The real challenge is managing the transition
Western politics is already becoming increasingly turbulent.
Income inequality is slowly beginning to grow even further, contributing to the already shaky political instability.
Automation will vary widely, depending on the industry sector.
Areport by PwCsuggests there will be three major waves of automation.
TheMcKinsey reportused Americas transition away from agriculture during the Industrial Revolution as an example.
In 1910, 18 percent of children between 14 and 17 years of age went to high school.
By 1940, 73 percent of children between 14 and 17 years of age went to high school.
This increase in education helped to create a booming manufacturing industry.
Its becoming increasingly clear that AI will not result in the end of work.
It could create as many jobs as it gets rid of.
Instead, the jobs of the future will merely require a different skillset.
Government advice networks need to support more businesses to use machine learning.
We need to build skills at all levels from schools to industry professionals, to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Unfortunately, this doesnt seem to be the case.
In addition, many schools are still failing to teach the key concepts of technology to their students.
Inaction will result in even greater division and polarization between communities.
This article was originally published onTowards Data Scienceby Aimee Pearcy, a computer scientist, writer, and campaigner.
Her work focuses on human rights issues in the tech industry.
