Artificial Intelligence and Employment

Abstract

Human beings have experienced tremendous changes in social life brought by the two previous industrial revolutions. Steam engines in the nineteenth century, electrification and mechanization in the twentieth century gave rise to the earth-shaking transformation of economic and social development. Each revolutionary breakthrough made in technology will incur huge shock to the existing order in the labor market, with a large number of traditional jobs replaced by new technology and new equipment. Moreover, in the context that more newly emerging industries and new employment posts keep bubbling up, job opportunities would not drop. Instead, due to many new fields demanding new expertise, there occurs constructional shortage in labor force, which forces the fundamental reform of man’s competence. If we make retrospection on the two previous industrial revolutions brought impressive shock and challenge to job market, we may realize that the long-term positive effect is far outweighed than the unfavorable influence. The new industrial revolution triggered by AI will also exert its influence on people’s employment. As its broad application prospect in agriculture, industry, service and public sectors, AI may bring opportunities and challenges to the labor market of multifarious industries, a new technology that is overcritical of worker’s quality and competence, but numerous posts demanding human intelligence are generated. We should not magnify the threat of AI and free ourselves from unnecessary worries, but we should also guard against its negative impact on traditional employment. We should adhere to the historical view of dialectical materialism, attach importance to its renovation of human social order from a comprehensive perspective, and hold an optimistic attitude toward the significant reform to global production order and employment in AI age.