An Idea About AI by an Undergrad
I am currently deciding between a Postgraduate in Data Science or Artificial Intelligence. I truly believe there are no wrong answers when deciding on a career in Computer Science, currently, we are infinitely marketable. However, the book How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg suggests that technology trends are like waves coming into a coastline, and the smartest people always find the spot with the best surf. I want to be in the place with the most bodacious brine, so I need to decide between two of the best career paths in the world, AI and Data Science.
I have a big idea. Soon there will be a significant change in the field of AI, where concrete physical actions can be done entirely without the need for humans in the loop. This will result in a boom in automation correlated with a significant wave of unemployment. While this sounds scary, I believe with adequate social change will not result in the ending of society, it will actually lead to the improvement of lives overall. If we can take the benefits of automation and feed them back into society, then the majority of humans will no longer need to work to live. This conceptual shift will also take jobs away from smart, talented people which may lead to a stagnation in societal productivity. I essentially think that only the smartest people will need to work, and the rest of us will just live good lives without needing to exert ourselves. Robots will just do it.
AI automation significantly differs from the other world-changing wave of automation in history: the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the steam engine caused a decrease in agricultural jobs and a drastic increase in production jobs. People started to work in factories, not fields. The difference between the Industrial Revolution and the AI Revolution is that there will not be an explosion of new jobs for most people, AI will do everything but come up with ideas. Robots will also write software, so don’t think that learning Javascript is a safe bet. Neil Stephenson’s book Diamond Age suggests that computers can do everything but be creative. Creativity includes many human concepts such as love, coming up with novel ideas, and person-to-person interaction. Human jobs that rely on these will survive, but ones that are more procedural will not. Fast food will become entirely automated, as you don’t go to a drive-through for a good chat, but nice restaurants will remain human-operated, as you need some culture. Gone will be the days of person-professionals looking at X-Rays and doing surgery, the only use for them will be talking to patients, as robots will never do that as well as a charismatic doctor.
Admittedly I do not think that I will live to see this in its entirety, but I think I will see the start of it. Indeed, I want to be the start of it. I believe the ceiling for Artificial Intelligence goes past our current concept for society, whereas Data Science merely complements it. It is hard to say whether the field of Data Science will exist past the AI Revolution, it depends on if machines can determine new insights from data all on their own. I believe that I will have a good job for the rest of my life in this field, however, I cannot shake the feeling that AI can and will change the world and I want to be ready on the water with my board when it happens.