According to global research and advisory firm Gartner, more jobs will be created in the artificial intelligence (AI) domain than lost, thus downplaying the fear of more jobs getting wiped out. The term AI, as most of us would be aware, was coined as early as 1956. Thanks to voluminous data and advanced improvements in computing algorithms and storage, businesses across various fields such as healthcare, education, defense, education, manufacturing, etc. have started unleashing its full potential to help them make the right decisions for their businesses.
In this article, we will discuss the future of AI and its career outlook for the year 2020. Let us start by understanding the term ‘Artificial Intelligence.’
So, What is AI?
AI is a subset of various technologies. AI can be understood as a simulated version of human intelligence processes by computer systems. It is a method used to transfer human knowledge to machines to help them think, act, and respond like humans. AI is a broad term that is a blend of several concepts such as machine learning, deep learning, data science, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Future of AI and Career Outlook
In the AI front, 2020 seems to be an active year. Let us take a look at some of the relevant AI trends that are unfolding. For a better understanding, we will understand these AI trends with respect to various industries.
- Transportation– Though it might take more than a decade to perfect them, people will, in the future, be able to use autonomous cars to ferry them from one place to the other.
- Healthcare– Using AI, medical practitioners will be able to diagnose diseases more quickly and accurately. It will help speed up the process of drug discovery. Virtual nursing assistants can be used to monitor patients.
- Manufacturing– AI-powered robots will be able to assist humans in performing tasks such as stacking and assembly. Predictive analysis sensors will be used to keep equipment running smoothly.
- Education– Textbooks will be digitized with the help of AI, and virtual tutors will be used to assist human instructors. The facial analysis will help determine the emotions of students and help tailor the experience to their individual needs.
- Customer Service– Google is now working on an AI assistant that can help place human-like calls, and in addition to words, the system will also be able to understand nuance and context.
Having looked at some of the major AI trends that will take place in 2020, let us now understand what AI has to offer in 2020 in terms of career options.
As mentioned by Gartner, 2.3 million new jobs will be created in 2020. It has mentioned that AI will become a positive job motivator and that 2020 will be a pivotal year in terms of AI-related employment dynamics. It reveals that IA-related job creation will reach a positive territory, thus attaining two million net-new jobs by the year 2025. Though AI may eliminate many middle and low-level positions, it will also create more new positions of management, highly skilled, and entry-level and low-skilled variety. AI is certainly expected to improve the productivity of many jobs. By the year 2022, it is expected that one out of every five workers who are engaged in non-routine tasks will greatly rely on AI to perform tasks.
The AI career market is hot right now. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, AI and machine learning will create $2.6 trillion in value for marketing and sales by 2020. It is also expected to create $2 trillion in supply chain planning and manufacturing. In the year 2020, the three major AI themes that will play a major role in shaping the advancement of AI are automation, trust, and natural language processing. AI systems will work more easily for businesses, consumers, and data scientists through automation. Natural language processing will play a major role in helping systems converse, debate, and solve problems with everyday language. More accountable and transparent practices will emerge that will help in the management of AI data.
From 2020, more companies are expected to use more AI experts and AI contractors for performing specialized work, and it is also expected that they will make use of remote staffing. According to Linkedin, the professional networking platform, AI specialist will be one of the most sought-after job roles by employers in 2020.
With automation becoming a reality across many industries, AI specialist is set to be a very popular emerging job, and some of the key industries that will hire AI specialists are computer software and information technology and services. As reported by Linkedin, soft skills such as customer retention and team management are also becoming important. Though the economy is undergoing rapid digitization, soft skills are very much needed as they signify the importance of the human touch. That said, as far as the AI sphere is concerned, professionals have nothing to fear as more and more AI jobs are created each day, and the demand for AI professionals is only expected to keep growing.
Conclusion
Businesses have, to a large extent, already started applying AI to highly repetitive tasks where abundant amounts of decisions and observations need to be analyzed for patterns. Reports suggest that applying AI to less repetitive jobs helps yield superior benefits. Applying AI to non-routine work will assist humans rather than replacing them as combining machines and humans means increased and effective performance rather than AI machines or human experts working separately.
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