The U.S. Government just released how artificial intelligence will affect the U.S. economy in a new report.
Accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will enable automation of some tasks that have long required human labor.1 These transformations will open up new opportunities for individuals, the economy, and society, but they have the potential to disrupt the current livelihoods of millions of Americans. Whether AI leads to unemployment and increases in inequality over the long-run depends not only on the technology itself but also on the institutions and policies that are in place. This report examines the expected impact of AI-driven automation on the economy, and describes broad strategies that could increase the benefits of AI and mitigate its costs.
The deal is that jobs will be automated – in such millions of jobs could be displaced. However, AI will provide opportunities for people to learn new things. The report notes that researchers’ estimates about jobs threatened ranges widely from 9 to 47 percent and the impact will be uneven: “AI is not a single technology, but rather a collection of technologies that are applied to specific tasks, the effects of AI will be unevenly felt throughout the economy.”
The key thing here is that the jobs which will go are the jobs which can be done by those with minimal education. Taxi drivers will be affected via self-driving cars. About 2.2 million to 3.1 million existing jobs in the United States on overall will be affected by AI and its variants.
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AI-driven automation will continue to create wealth and expand the American economy in the coming years, but, while many will benefit, that growth will not be costless and will be accompanied by changes in the skills that workers need to succeed in the economy, and structural changes in the economy.
Nevertheless, the report did not model the possibilities AI could bring which could be new jobs in new areas. There is no way to have these numbers since the field is still emerging..
That said, we do think AI will affect Nigeria even more. We see the application of AI in agriculture and that will be the most important area in Nigeria and Africa. AI will bring intelligence in the crop farming business and open a new dawn in how farmers make decisions. That will improve yield and accelerate innovation in Nigeria across all value chains.
Zenvus, a leading AgTech company in Nigeria, is leading that future and its efforts will radically improve the agriculture sector which will have overall impact in the Nigerian economy. We do not think that this AI application in agriculture will affect jobs because it is not designed to displace workers. The key is to improve decision making for the farmers.
