Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace – InsideSources

The societal effects of artificial intelligence (AI) are already being felt everyday by Americans -- from the availability of level-three autonomous automobiles to commercial self-adjusting lighting, heating and air-conditioning systems, to Amazon "learning" what your reading preferences are and suggesting books of interest. These are helpful, if sometimes annoying, conveniences of 21st-century life. However, AI, the algorithmic codes that are capable of learning and acting based on observed patterns in data sets, possesses a "darker" side. For example, in a March 2017 report ("The Future of Jobs and Job Training"), Pew Research Center analysts made the following observations on the negative effects of AI: "Automation, robotics, algorithms and artificial intelligence in recent times have shown they can do equal or sometimes even better work than humans who are dermatologists, insurance claims adjusters, lawyers, seismic testers in oil fields, sports journalists and financial reporters, crew members on guided-missile destroyers, hiring managers, psychological testers, retail salespeople, and border patrol agents. "Moreover, there is growing anxiety that technology developments on the near horizon will crush the jobs of the millions who drive cars and trucks, analyze medical tests and data, perform middle management chores, dispense medicine, trade stocks and evaluate markets, fight on battlefields, perform government functions, and even replace those who program software – that is, the creators of algorithms."