As evidenced by drastic developments in AI... change is underway.
"A perfect storm of business model change in all industries, resulting in major disruptions
to labor markets."
That is what's expected in the near future...
according to the World Economic Forum's report on the future of jobs.
How so and what needs to be done to better prepare ourselves for this rapid change?
Our News Feature tonight...
with Kwon Jang-ho.
"SIRI, remind me to pick up my dry cleaning after work today.
SIRI can be a useful tool, though it's not really ready to replace the role of a human
personal assistant yet.
But that's where the technology is heading."
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Stuart Russell, a leading expert in
computer science, suggested that in the future, artificial intelligence would become the ideal
personal assistant, perform better than humans, and be available to all.
"We're talking about a system which is there on your shoulder and can provide advice, and
can help you navigate the complicated world."
But perhaps that future is already here.
A study last year found that between 2001 and 2013, personal assistant jobs in the U.K.
had fallen by 45-percent.
Other occupations such as library assistants and travel agents also saw huge declines.
The report concluded that the losses were mainly among jobs where productivity had been
greatly improved by technology.
"Jobs which are standardized, repetitive, and involve patterns, are jobs that will be
taken over by artificial intelligence and robots.
For instance, in the U.S., 75-percent of Wall Street trading is being made by computers.
Even in journalism, sports and finance news reports can be produced by AI autonomously."
Researchers at the University of Oxford in 2013 said that 47-percent of jobs in the U.S.
could potentially be done solely by machines within 10-20 years.
The study also said that any job that involves little social intelligence, creativity, and
perception is at risk.
Further studies showed that Korea is at a higher risk of losing jobs, as it has been
estimated that 63-percent of the country's workforce could be computerized.
"Our research found that it is a very risky situation, far more so than that in the U.S.
and other developed countries.
The reason is because the ratio of Korean jobs that involve simple manual skills or
office administration work is higher than other places."
But the research paper offers hope in that new fields will open up, especially in IT
and software development.
The social business networking site LinkedIn put together a list of the top 10 job-titles
that barely existed before 2008.
8 out of 10 were from digital industries, with IOS and Android software developers coming
out on top.
Academics and business leaders agree that the changing nature of the job market in general
cannot be stopped and that the next task in hand is for society to adapt to such changes.
[14:50] "Those already working will need to go through
a re-education.
Moreover, they need to study new fields in order to survive, and for that, universities
and the government need to provide related courses or financial support."
"I think re-training is the responsibility for the corporation.
If we know the future, and I think we are almost crystal clear that we know the future,
that's what we're talking about, then we have to start retraining the people.
And also we have to work with the government to really create the future talent to be more
adaptive to the future trend."
"The fourth industrial revolution is coming.
It should make life a little easier, better, more productive.
But for some of us, that might not happen if jobs and our livelihoods become collateral
damage.
To prepare for it, more steps need to be taken by governments, businesses and, of course,
ourselves.
Kwon Jang-Ho, Arirang News."