Here's a disjointed thought I've been considering.
It seems there's been a lot of talk recently about AI taking jobs or changing our jobs or making people redundant. AI "Doing things better."
No one has yet told me how AI is going to run my family better than I do.
How is AI going to help with bedtime? How will it do laundry, meal plan, apply for my daughters childcare funding?
Perhaps the screams of "AI WILL TAKE PEOPLE'S JOBS" is coming from a small but vocal group of possibly over-influential people? Sorry if the CEO or the Executive or the "person who makes spreadsheets" is going to find their job minimised by a smart language algorithm?
(FYI, I am a person who makes spreadsheets and wants to be a CEO so I am not being totally "Not me so I don't care")
Anyways, while software engineers may be displaced (I am married to a wonderful software engineer also, and I do hope he keeps his job) I don't think AI will replace our amazing cleaner. Or the workers at my daughter's nursery. Or the nurses at hospital.
Basically, It doesn't seem like AI is at risk of replacing classically female jobs.
Is the "threat" of AI gendered as well? Is perhaps the impact disproportionally applied to those who are most vocal, and those who are most vocal are mostly... well... men?
If I can be exceptionally direct here - If women can routinely get paid 20% less for the same job as men then maybe it's fair that computers can take the jobs of 20% of men?
I bet if I was less tired I would be able to write this screed better, but I've been up since 4am so this is how it goes. And the twins will be up at any minute, which will likely take the rest of my mental energy for the day.
I'm married to a software engineer as well! There is a meme that AI will never replace human software developers because it would require the clients to be specific about what they want. As far as taking over home responsibilities, the unpaid work that all of us do is definitely safe from AI.
ReplyDeleteAI is welcome to my paid job if it wants it! I mean yes AI will take over some jobs, but society and the economy will adapt.
Sigh. I sometimes worry that AI will take my paying job, but yeah, it's not going to clean the house or cook dinner or be a friend. The unpaid stuff we get to keep. Paraphrasing here, but there's a saying, "If work were so great, the rich would take it all"
ReplyDelete"If women can routinely get paid 20% less for the same job as men then maybe it's fair that computers can take the jobs of 20% of men?" -- I think that would be fair.
ReplyDeleteI am sure AI will take over parts of jobs but I doubt that it will replace people completely.