For one thing, the mainstreaming of AI means that human employees will ultimately lose jobs to robots and other autonomous machines. “We know it’s coming, but it’s a question of what we are doing to prepare for it," said Fischer. One example could be the elimination of ride-share drivers to driverless cars. As companies such as Uber and Lyft invest time and money to create autonomous vehicles, they do so with the presumption that they’ll reap financial reward. Presently, a company such as Uber may net about 20% off the top of each ride, but it could bank closer to 100% if it replaces humans with intelligent machines. For this to happen, of course, plenty of ethical questions must first be answered, like whether a machine can be as intelligent as a driver, and how exactly it will need to be programmed to make life and death decisions every second on our highways. Potential benefits aside, it’s not an idea that always rests comfortably with the general public even as the industry is racing to make the best prototype. There’s also the question of education and creating an employment landscape that matches up with available training. “There are many areas
biggest takeaways was just how powerful and misunderstood AI really is, even within the tech community. “AI is what I coin as the greatest technological transformation in human history since the advent of the Internet,” he said. But the industry has yet to truly grasp howmuch of an impact it’s poised to have, not only on the tech world, but also the overall employment structure that is rapidly changing. The predicted global financial impact of AI alone is staggering, estimated by PWC to reach $16 trillion in worldwide growth in the next few years. “The main beneficiaries will be the U.S. and China,” said Fischer. “AI will have a major impact all through our economy.” The biggest sectors, most of which are already feeling it, include mobile and smart home technology, medicine, data processing, delivery and transportation. Despite the financial stimulus promised by this game-changing technology, Fischer is cognizant of the inevitable transitional period between now and when AI truly goes mainstream, and whether enough people in power really grasp how the technology will change the structure of work and life.
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CompTIAWorld | FALL 2019
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