SKILLED WORKFORCE ROBOTS

Sanjeewaka Kulathunga detects a globotics upheaval in the midst of the digital economy

Robots have begun to invade our world and in their quest to replace us, they may not stop at the factory floor. AI helps perform skilled tasks at the highest conceptual level not only in offices and boardrooms, but also hospitals and courtrooms.

Sophisticated machine learning (ML) and companies’ growing reliance on remotely employed individuals has led to a radical transformation in labour economics. Prof. Richard Baldwin – an economics professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva – refers to this phenomenon as ‘globotics,’ which exemplify the types of disruption that would eliminate white-collar and service professional jobs faster than ever before.

It is no secret that routine tasks such as scanning databases or compiling lists could be performed faster with the help of AI software. According to a Gartner report, 20 percent of employees engaged in mostly non-routine tasks will rely on AI by 2022. In the gig economy, remote workers could perform all manner of routine functions from any location, thereby reducing labour costs.

Although AI driven white-collar robots and remote employees are effective for repetitive or predictable tasks, they fall short when it comes to ethical, empathetic and creative considerations. This has led to a phenomenon where highly skilled service professionals may find antidotes to the negative impact of globotics – sharpening their emotional and social intelligence.

Accordingly, corporate employees should embrace their humanist values even in the age of AI as it offers them an edge.

For thousands of years from the Stone Age to the agricultural era, primary economies depended on land based production for human subsistence. With the dawn of the industrial age, innovation and economic expansion took root, rendering ordinary lives more comfortable and convenient. Industrial mechanisation replaced self-subsistent farming jobs with factory work while creating novel occupations. Along with rapid innovation and growth in the industrial sector, the ripple effects and chain reaction of applying innovative technologies were witnessed in the 100 years from 1870 to 1970 when various jobs were created to sustain an economic revival.

However, the rapid transformation in the industrial century led to social unrest.

For instance, unplanned economic activities created food shortages and job insecurity among the working class, intensifying income disparities between different social strata. The backlash of industrial transformation was expressed in the form of political extremism (fascism and communism) and economic depressions in the first half of the 20th century.

Digitally driven tele-migration has resulted in a new phase of globalisation. This has led to increased competition among global talent, and created fresh opportunities for professional, white-collar and other service jobs across borders.

Machine translation has generated tidal waves of talent that could be utilised to transfer novel knowledge and skills to the business world. Instant machine translation has eliminated language barriers. Accordingly, educated people could transmit their skills and talents as tele-migrants from any corner of the globe.

The proliferation of technology has caused a radical transformation of the world economy. And the power of artificial intelligence has reduced the human monopoly on thinking in terms of white-collar professions in the fields of medicine, finance, recruitment and law.

Algorithm enhanced ML and image recognition are able to perform complex tasks in competition with highly skilled professionals. Therefore, doctors, bankers and lawyers are among those who will have to sharpen their skills and knowledge to perform duties in synchrony with AI.

According to Baldwin, the combination of globalisation and robotics based on AI will lead to a globotics upheaval, posing a threat to the basic tenets of the social market economy. He also notes that the speed of this transformation is threating to overpower the human capacity to adapt.

We are familiar with how digital technologies make our lives more comfortable and convenient. However, globotics will replace millions of white-collar jobs in the international labour market at a more rapid pace than automation and industrialisation while creating massive economic burdens for households.

Baldwin argues that the negative impact of a globotics upheaval could be countered with the help of people’s unique abilities and independent thoughts that emphasise the social value of work.

Moreover, a true understating of the issues in line with globotics will guide economic and political decision makers to protect humanity from the emerging threat of an advanced robotic workforce – yes, even in the digital economy we live in today.