Artificial intelligence is defined as ‘the study and design of intelligent agents, where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximizes its chances of success’.
Examples of AI include Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri technology we somewhat take for granted today but should not overlook how complex and clever the technology is. AI is used heavily in the healthcare industry in the form of AI assisted robotic surgery. This technology is worth ‘$40bn to the American healthcare industry’ as the ‘robots can analyse data from pre-op medical records to guide a surgeon's instrument during surgery, which can lead to a 21% reduction in a patient's hospital stay’. This not only has obvious benefits to the consumers as they are able to get back to the comforts of their own home quicker but also businesses are able to increase the number of patients they can see, helping generate extra revenue.
Furthermore, AI technology has been introduced into the automobile industry with Tesla leading the way, with their vehicles having features including its self-driving feature and automatic braking which helps keep drivers safer on the roads. Uber have started to test and introduce self-driving cars a project in theory that could revolutionise the taxi industry. Bart Selman, professor of computer science at Cornell University, explains the benefits that self-driving cars provide. ’Self-driving cars can look around the car 360 degrees. They're able to take in way more information than a human driver and they don't get distracted’. Despite this however, AI technology in vehicles is not perfect and even though they may be safer, the times it goes wrong, it acts as a big deterrent and puts consumers off trusting this technology, as they believe their own judgement would be safer. In ‘May 2018, a pedestrian, in Arizona, was killed by an Uber vehicle operating in autonomous mode’ highlighting the flaws that are present in the technology.
Will AI benefit the economy?
Yes. Despite critics warning that jobs could be lost, AI will actually stimulate economic growth and provide increased employment due to its ability to ‘drive a greater choice of products, with increased personalisation’. Yes, jobs would be lost, PWC predicts that AI could displace roughly 7 million jobs in the UK, in the next 20 years, with the manufacturing industry being the most at risk, with 25% of roles estimated to be cut.
But AI is set to actually boost overall employment rates in UK, as AI is predicted to create 7.2 million jobs with the health and social work sector to get the biggest increase, at an estimated 1 million jobs. The future of AI and its influence on the economy looks positive as ‘UK GDP will be 10.3% higher in 2030 as a result of AI’. I’m looking forward to seeing how businesses adapt to the development of AI and the innovations that will arise as a result.
