It’s no secret that automated machines and robots are rapidly replacing human workers.
In Europe, concerns about the loss of good-paying jobs to automation is so strong that the idea of a universal basic income is gaining traction. France, for one example, could lose three million jobs by 2025 due to automation, a former education minister campaigning for the French presidency has argued.
The topic has been front of mind this week for participants at the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, Switzerland. There, CBS News asked business leaders to look past the hope and hype of artifical intelligence and reflect on the negatives of automation.
Felix Marquardt, president international at Cylance, emphasized that the growth of artifical intelligence makes an education system overhaul more urgent than ever.
“The question truly is: are our educational systems ready for the challenges posed by A.I.?” Marquardt said. “Our schools are still primarily churning out job seekers, when what we need is for them to churn out job creators. Entrepreneurship needs to be much more seriously taught.”
Cylance is an antivirus software built on a platform powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Ryan Permeh, chief scientist and co-founder of Cylance, put the issue in historical perspective, emphasizing that markets have adapted to widespread automation before.
“The reality is is that it’s also opening up a large number of jobs -- certain areas are going to shrink and certain areas are going to grow. We saw this with every industrial revolution,” Permeh said.
