Will robots take our jobs?

New technologies are reinventing the way we work and live. Innovations such as virtual reality, the internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies are revolutionising the workplace, but what are the implications for businesses and employees?

The impact of artificial intelligence is already being felt – sometimes without the end user even realising it, according to KPMG partner Dr Owen Lewis. "People take for granted some of the things that artificial intelligence is already doing," he says, citing the technology that allows companies such as Netflix and Amazon to provide personalised recommendations based on viewing or purchase habits.

Lewis believes “more and more tasks” will be automated, with significant implications for business and employees as technology reduces costs, improves accuracy and increases speed.

One sector where he sees vast potential for digital labour is in medicine. “A machine can make a decision in a complex environment, based on rules and vast amounts of data. That precision and speed of making decisions in a medical environment is a good example.”

Meanwhile, according to KPMG’s most recent CEO survey, three in 10 Irish businesses have made a significant investment in robotic process automation in the past 12 months while almost 60 per cent have launched a new investment programme related to cognitive technology, including areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Senior vice-president and chief information officer with Xilinx, Kevin Cooney, says the concept of machine learning or AI, at a very macro level, is about finding ways to make machines smarter.

The US technology firm recently announced 100 new jobs in Ireland and Cooney says “the life blood of what we do is innovating and developing new products”.

Xilinx’s technology allows users to re-programme their chip, making it unique.

“That re-programmability means you can continue to work and find optimum changes and if you use it in a communications space, bandwidths change all the time and rules change all the time,” so it’s very useful in that space.

Phenomenal

In terms of smarter machines, Cooney gives the example of autonomous cars, with the technology for that already viable today. “It will most likely take several more years before it gets to a place where the business processes and insurance come to being but the technology is very advanced.

“Our chips are popular because they are good at absorbing and grabbing information at a phenomenal pace.

“If you’re in a car and it’s driving you, you want to know that the object in front of you is a child and you expect the car to be able to recognise that and decide what to do.

“If you think about the things you do as a human, you want the car to be able to do all those things in at least the same nanoseconds you do it as a human, so you need to teach and train it how to do that and that’s where the whole machine learning comes in.”

Cooney says machine learning and AI will also be used more frequently in smart factories. “Manufacturing and automation processes that exist today, you will continue to see this whole concept of machine learning playing an increasing role in industrialised locations and activities,” he says.

Technology giant Oracle has made great strides in cloud technology and has brought to market “the autonomous data base”. Ireland country leader John Donnelly says this is “essentially self-driving database technology”.

“Its policy driven, what you do is you define the policies that you want to adhere to, then through a combination of machine learning, the database learns and runs itself and because it is self-tuning and self-patching, it is much more secure.”

He says while building platforms and applying them to companies, where businesses can make a real difference or where they can derive real value is when they take the emerging technologies and begin to join them up across their enterprise.

“We have a customer, iCabbi, which is a transport business, they’ve disrupted the taxi industry to a degree, not like from the Uber side but from cab companies’ side, and they’re using our cloud service and analytics to drive that change into their customer base,” he says.

Worker of tomorrow

In terms of how new technologies will affect the worker of tomorrow, Cooney says: “Technology in and of itself is only as valuable to the utilisation it is put to by people and that’s a core value we will always continue to hold on to.”

Lewis believes increased automation will have “some winners and losers”, with the potential for job losses in certain industries. That said, he believes new jobs will be created too, ones that rely on “the incredible nature of the human brain” to take on tasks that a robot can not.

Donnelly says there is concern among workers about jobs, but using new technologies allows people re-divert expensive resources to doing work which is more relevant to their business as opposed to carrying out tasks that are relevant to maintaining IT.

“That’s where they’ll get real value and when people embrace it, that’s where they’ll find opportunities.”

So how well are companies reacting to these changes, and taking a bite of the opportunities that arise?

According to Lewis, almost 40 per cent of CEOs believe their organisation is not ready to adopt artificial intelligence technology. “It’s hard for someone making decisions on the future to understand what is hype and what is worthwhile,” he says.

He advises companies to explore what’s right for their agenda. “Dip a toe in the water, get an awareness of the technology and understand what it means for your business. Embrace new technology but think of your customer and your business first.”

Cooney says: “The reality is that those who react quickly will continue to grow and evolve and will take advantage of new opportunities that technology gives them, but if you don’t adapt I think that will make life difficult for you. The reality is the world is adapting around you, so must you.”