The AI Revolution: Transforming Employment and Securing U.S. Global Competitiveness
Generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence system capable of generating text, images, or other media in response to prompts, has made significant impact on the world — particularly since the announcement of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.
Though we are still in the early stages of its widespread adoption, there has been a major inflection point in the evolution of generative AI. It has seen the fastest adoption rate, reaching one million users in just five days, compared to other popular platforms like Instagram, Spotify, Facebook, and Netflix, which took between two months and three years to reach one million users. This has resulted in a surge of significant investments from venture funds and strategic funds, even in the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions over the past six months.
Adopting AI is no longer a “nice to have” but a “must use” for companies today. Those that leverage technology like generative AI will thrive, while those that fail to do so risk becoming irrelevant over time. By examining the significant impact of generative AI on three key areas — employment, society, and global competitiveness — we can also reveal challenges that this disruptive technology brings, and the regulations that may be required to ensure its responsible and ethical use.
Impact on Employment:
While several articles have raised concerns about generative AI’s potential to eliminate white-collar jobs, history has shown us that technology adoptions, such as personal computers, mobile phones, and the widespread use of the internet, have significantly improved the productivity of employees and enterprises. Generative AI has the potential to do the same.
Furthermore, AI could create new job opportunities that we have yet to imagine. Of course, with any significant technological adoption, there will be a risk of specific job categories being impacted due to automation. A recent example is Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM, who mentioned the replacement of 7,800 jobs with AI. However, the workforce can adapt by embracing and developing AI skill sets. The industrial revolution is a prime example of this. Henry Ford disrupted the transportation industry with the introduction of cars, and in recent times introduction of electric cars by Tesla, which has led to positive changes in the workforce.
Impact on Society and the Need for Regulation:
AI has the potential to impact society significantly. There are already early examples of negative consequences. For instance, generative AI is used for schoolwork, such as writing essays and taking tests, creating false videos in the name of notable celebrities or political leaders, and being used in cyber attacks to leak personal data. As a result, governments are proposing regulations in this nascent market, which speaks volumes about the potential impact of generative AI.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, recently spoke on the popular evening television show 60 Minutes about the importance of slowing down the rollout of this technology to ensure a better understanding of it, and work towards guard bands. Like other technological transitions, such as browsers, iPhones, or the web, AI will bring both positive and negative impacts to society.
I believe some form of regulation is needed to protect consumers from the misuse of generative AI. However, the enterprise adoption of generative AI presents an enormous opportunity to increase employees’ productivity and achieve things that were not possible before, such as accelerating personalized medicine for patients, or analyzing business trends in real time based on massive volumes of publicly available data complemented with relevant proprietary data.
Impact of Regulation on U.S. Global Competitiveness:
The success of the United States in the global economy can be attributed to its pace of innovation, which has created massive industries and new jobs over a relatively short time. Silicon Valley, in particular, has been instrumental in creating $100B markets such as semiconductors, personal computers, networking and storage, the internet, social media, renewable energy, cloud infrastructure, electric cars, search, cybersecurity, cell phones, and now, AI.
This achievement in just over 50 years is a source of envy for the rest of the world. Regulations play an essential role as markets mature and consolidate into a few large dominant companies, which may use predatory practices against small competitors. With the advent of AI, regulations may be needed to protect consumers and specific industries from the harmful use of this powerful technology. However, regulators must be careful not to stifle the innovation flywheel that has been a core competency of the US economy globally for so long. We are currently in a technological race with other large economies like China, which is investing heavily in AI and several other industries like semiconductors, cloud infrastructure and social media.
Looking Ahead
Adopting generative AI will enable US enterprises to maintain or grow their global leadership position and empower employees and enterprises to be more efficient and productive at their jobs. Just as our culture of innovation has done in the past, generative AI has the potential to impact our everyday lives positively.
However, as we implement this powerful technology, we’ll want to remain mindful of the negative impacts it could have if it’s not used with care. Some regulation is needed, but it should aim to support companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, Cisco, Nvidia, and Tesla, who are well ahead of their global competitors, rather than attempt to hinder, control, or slow them. Free competition and innovation are the core tenets of the US economy, and we must not allow it to wither away.
Thank you for reading! For more research on AI, follow me on LinkedIn or on Thomvest. Keep in touch at umesh@thomvest.com.
