A recent study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has highlighted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) currently lacks the cost efficiency to fully replace humans in the majority of job roles. The study raises concerns about the potential impact of AI advancements on the employability of millions worldwide.
The focus of the MIT study was on evaluating the feasibility of AI replacing humans in tasks utilizing computer vision technology. Computer vision, a key AI branch, interprets information from digital images and visual inputs, commonly used in object detection for autonomous driving and image categorization on smartphones.
The study findings indicate that only about 23% of workers could be feasibly replaced by AI based on cost considerations. The high installation and maintenance costs associated with AI-powered visual recognition systems often make human labor more economical.
The researchers emphasized that the fear of automation replacing jobs is not new and has resurfaced with the emergence of advanced language models. They concluded that firms would find automating only 23% of worker tasks economically viable due to the significant upfront investment required for AI systems.
Industries like retail, transportation, warehousing (including major players like Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.), and healthcare stand out as economically favorable sectors for AI implementation, particularly in computer vision applications. The study suggests that a more aggressive deployment of AI, possibly through AI-as-a-service models, could enhance feasibility and broaden AI applications.
Funded by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, the study collected data from approximately 1,000 visually-assisted tasks spanning 800 occupations through online surveys. Currently, only 3% of these tasks are deemed cost-effective for automation, but the researchers anticipate this number could rise to 40% by 2030, subject to decreasing data costs and enhanced accuracy.
The introduction of advanced AI models like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard has sparked concerns about significant job displacement, given these chatbots’ proficiency in tasks traditionally performed by humans. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently warned that nearly 40% of global jobs could be affected, underscoring the importance for policymakers to carefully manage the balance between AI’s potential benefits and its potential adverse impacts.
