Should Creatives Fear Losing Their Jobs to Artificial Intelligence?

As scientists make advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, the job security of large swaths of the workforce has become a cause for concern.

Workers in the manufacturing industry are already familiar with losing their jobs to machines, but now, those working in creative fields such as marketing, writing, music and art are beginning to worry as well. In the near future, scientists may be able to build a machine that can write a book, compose a song or create a painting, leaving many who work in creative fields wondering what lies ahead.

That’s a reasonable fear for a society that has been exposed to movies like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Terminator” series and, more recently, “Ex Machina.” In every one of these movies, the machines equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) eventually begin to think like humans and in the end outsmart their creators.

However, it is important to keep in mind that those plot lines are rooted in the realm of science fiction. When it comes to concerns regarding artificial intelligence and job security, it is important to know exactly what AI is, what it can do and where scientists are with its development.

Understanding AI

AI is a part of computer science. The goal for those in the field is to develop machines that can do tasks normally done by people – specifically, tasks that require intelligence.

Drilling down a bit deeper, scientists break AI into three different categories: weak AI, strong AI and the middle ground between the two. Strong AI refers to machines that can think like humans do and actually simulate human reasoning. The ability to better understand how people think would help benefit the future of AI research. Naturally, the complexities of human thought are difficult to replicate and as of yet, no machine has been built to consistently think like humans.

Weak AI seeks to mimic human behavior. For instance, IBM’s Deep Blue is a system with an expertise in the game of chess, although it does not play in the same way that humans do. These kind of machines cannot teach us anything about the way humans think, unlike strong AI systems.

The third category lies in between strong and weak AI. These systems, such as IBM’s Watson, are inspired by human reasoning, but do not simulate the actual way people think.

Plans for AI Seek to Benefit Creatives, Not Replace Them

A 2016 report published by World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that up to 5.1 million jobs could be lost over the next five years in the world’s top 15 economies due to disruptive labor market changes such as AI. However, according to AI Business, it is more likely that people’s jobs will simply evolve so that they may work alongside AI. People will still have their jobs, but their duties and responsibilities will likely be different.

Professionals working in creative industries have a lot to gain from this technology. AI has the potential to become the ultimate creative tool, helping to build richer experiences for consumers with long-lasting value.

Design

Agencies often spend a lot of time on simple and repetitive tasks. It’s typically not the strategic thinking behind website or campaign designs that takes up valuable time, but rather the actual process of executing these ideas. The creative thinking behind these designs is purely human, but once an idea is developed, a designer may spend weeks in front of a computer bringing it to life.

This is one area where AI could prove useful. Because design is a series of rules that can be learned, in theory, AI could be taught to perform these tasks, generating websites in minutes rather than weeks or months. With AI handling the task of carrying out human plans, more time could become available for people to focus on the creative thinking behind their work.

Ideas

According to fastcocreate.com, a branch of Fast Company, there are computers currently writing book manuscripts and composing symphonies, offering proof that AI can come up with ideas on its own. The problem is, those ideas lack context and feelings. Computers don’t understand emotion or cultural relevance and they don’t get excited, angry, jealous, depressed or elated – emotions humans experience almost every day.

They also don’t invent. If you teach a computer how to write a novel, it won’t go on to produce something experimental. It will just keep writing variations of the same book over and over again.

However, that doesn’t mean AI doesn’t have anything to offer during the creative process. By performing data research, AI can help humans better understand cultural trends and interests. Yet, it’s still up to humans to translate this information creatively.

Music

In the summer of 2016, Google introduced a new group of employees dedicated to making AI more creative at a music festival known as Moogfest. The overall goal of the Google group is to see if AI can be trained to create its own art, music and video and then have it affect a group of listeners emotionally. The group’s first project is titled Magenta and it will allow researchers to import music data so the AI can be trained on musical knowledge.

The ability to think creatively has long been understood as a skill that only humans possess, so getting AI to think creatively would be one step closer to creating machines that could think on their own. While that probably won’t happen for some time, AI is still proving useful for those working in the creative sphere.

For example, when composer David Cope was hit with writer’s block, he was able to create a program that could be given various compositions and then create one in a similar style. The results helped Cope write new works. He now offers compositions by the program, called “Experiments in Musical Intelligence.” The main goal was not to create computer-generated music, but to use AI to spark new ideas.

The Future of AI in the Workforce

Ready or not, AI and robots are set to become a big part of the workforce in the very near future. According to AI Business, experts are predicting there will be limitless interaction between humans and machines, which will forever change the way humans live, work and relate to one another.

Machines are already handling much of the data collection once done by humans. Big, technology-driven companies continue to invest in AI that can crunch large amounts of data and make recommendations to consumers.

Netflix is a prime example. Their research, using data from millions of consumers, drives the company’s decisions on what shows to produce and even which cast members to hire.

Salesforce’s Einstein, one of the newest AI engines on the market, is equipped to route jobs to the right members of the sales team based on who is the best match for the customer’s needs. These two scenarios are examples of how AI enables businesses to be more efficient, accurate and effective by allowing for better use of resources, which reduces waste and improves services.

So set aside those movie-generated fears. In real life, AI is here to help.