Artificial Intelligence (AI) sounds exciting in terms of what AI can do for humans; however, a more fully automated world comes with a price — many jobs lost that were previously performed by humans. This is especially true in specific employment sectors: sales, customer service, transportation, shipping/logistics and healthcare/legal paraprofessionals.
A recent article posted on Futurism.com walks through each of these sectors and how they will be impacted by AI.
Sales, Customer Service, and Transportation Go First
When it comes to sales, lead generation is critical in terms of profiling online behavior to discover viable opportunities. AI likely will take over to reveal the optimum leads for sales teams to follow.
As far as customer service, by 2020, it is predicted that 85% of customer service transactions could be handled by AI. This would happen because AI transactions would feel more human based on more advanced personalization.
Transportation could be revolutionized by AI. Every years millions of people are injured and many thousands are killed in traffic accidents caused by humans drivers. Self-driving cars will be available for consumers within the next year or two, and it is believed that they will be programmed better to avoid accidents. Moreover, delivery and long-haul drivers, as well as public drivers, ultimately may lose their jobs to self-driving vehicles.
As far as shipping and logistics, the handling of the management of route systems and delivery speeds, as well as warehousing and space allocation for containers and trucks, likely will be powered by AI — with humans losing jobs.
And when it comes to healthcare and legal paraprofessionals, they could lose jobs as AI robots become more capable of searching databases for potential legal and medical solutions.
So yes, AI is exciting in terms of what can be done for humans; however, along the way some humans will be forced out of jobs that they previously performed.
Eric Sinrod (@EricSinrod on Twitter) is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP, where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. You can read his professional biography here. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod’s columns, please email him at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com with Subscribe in the Subject line. This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm or its individual partners.