Artificial Intelligence is Eyeing Big Tech Positions, but not in the Manner You’re Imagining – Here’s a Twist!
“AI Is Coming for Big Tech Jobs—but Not in the Way You Think”
“Surely, a robot could do my job. A machine learning algorithm could crunch the numbers, consider the correlations, and spit out a blithely optimistic projection of how many articles about Fortnite a reporter should write this year to optimize web traffic.”
Uh-huh, sure. So now that we’ve thrown around scary terms like ‘machine learning’ and ‘algorithm,’ shall we pause for a moment of serious contemplation? Could this automated future be as simple and straightforward as programmers would like us to believe? Or are we merely feeding the hype monster with our technology-inspired nightmares?
This enchanted blog post from Wired trotted out the tired trope of machines coming for everyone’s jobs, starting with those fortunate souls in Silicon Valley. Apparently, artificial intelligence isn’t content with replacing warehouse workers, cashiers, and chefs. Now it has its sights set on the inhabitants of the cushy, air-conditioned glass towers of tech giants.
The article claims these fears are misplaced and that AI isn’t really trying to snatch the quinoa salad out of a tech employee’s hands. Instead, it’s postulated that the algorithm bingers’ and code munchers’ jobs are safe, but they might be asked to change the way they work. Interesting, right? Yeah, that’s what all the factory workers heard before they were replaced by robots. One day it’s “Change the way you work,” the next it’s, “Meet your new robot coworker, isn’t it cute how it never needs a bathroom break?”
Apparently, the idea of a future where humans work alongside AI or even manage it, keeps recurring in this article. A cozy scenario in which we become creators, midwives to an ever more intelligent digital species. Admirable sentiment, if not a tad patronizing.
The article argues that AI can diagnose diseases more accurately, write better ads, and even make more sensible hiring decisions than humans. That certainly sounds wonderful, if one can get past the fact that an algorithm might reject them for a job because they used the wrong font on their resume.
Despite all the optimism, one must admit that roboticizing the workforce does provide solutions to mundane tasks. And perhaps, as the article insists, the future isn’t so much job loss as job transformation. But for now, we shall continue to sit on the edge of our ergonomic office chairs, awaiting the day when an AI tells us how to write better Fortnite articles. It may be sooner than we think. Or maybe not. After all, do we really need more Fortnite articles?