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Will AI End Jobs As We Know Them?
Part 3— Insights from Stuart Russell’s BBC Reith Lectures
In his third Reith Lecture, Professor Stuart Russell explores the potential impact of AI on jobs and the wider economy. He raises important questions about whether AI will lead to the end of work and whether that is a good thing. Russell notes that while today’s AI is having an impact, the real issue lies in general-purpose AI, which refers to machines that can quickly learn to perform well across the full range of tasks that humans can perform. Here are some of the interesting themes and quotations from the session.
General-purpose AI and the end of work
With general-purpose AI, almost every sector will be impacted, not just one, and many jobs will become automated. While this will increase global wealth, it is not clear that compensating employment gain will arise in other sectors. The author suggests that fundamentally new socioeconomic arrangements will be needed to address this issue. Russell notes that historically, humans have had to work to survive, but with the possibility of a universal basic income and increased automation, humans may lose their incentive to work. This could lead to a WALL-E-like dystopia where people become complacent and disengaged from society.
