Question

1a) This article looks at how technological advancement can impact employment (or workers). How can AI be a threat to employment? In what ways it may actually be beneficial for workers? For firms? For the economy?

b) Will robotics be a continuous problem for employment? What might be some of the costs of unemployment, to the unemployed worker and to the society as a whole, besides the worker’s loss of income?

Answer 1

A) AI or, Artificial intelligence is the use of automation to get work done.

It is a threat to employment because by using AI, firms can get more work done, at a faster pace and complete accuracy using a specific technology which would do the work of many workers combined. This will eliminate the firm's need to hire workers to get done, when they know this can be done by AI. As a result, demand for workers reduces, leading to fall in employment.

On the other hand, it can be beneficial to workers, as AI aids workers in getting their work done with accuracy and less time. This will help increase worker productivity.

It is also beneficial to firms as more work will now be completed in less time and using less resources. This leaves firms with higher output and thus high profits.

Overall, this increased output for firms translates further into higher GDP for economy.

B) Yes, robotics stands to be a large and continuous problem for employment as workers will be displaced at high rates.

Cost of unemployment: High crime rates as workers will be unemployed and might get into illegal and criminal activities to get food or money, high poverty, lower worker incomes will lead to high income inequality as the rich get richer and poor become poorer, low literacy rates, etc.