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AI will leave millions without a job
Michael Lewis refers to disasters like train and aeroplane accidents when predicting what mayhem AI might cause (Letters, Issue 724). But the much bigger threat is to jobs. I started working in a bank in the City in the early 1980s as part of a graduate scheme. I’ve moved companies several times, but my role is roughly the same. But bit by bit that role has been eaten away – first by automated software and more recently by AI.
Fortunately, I will retire next year, so I’m getting out just in time. But the generations coming up behind me won’t be so lucky. The graduate schemes that I benefitted from barely exist now. The Covid lockdowns began to kill them, but the rise of AI has accelerated their demise. Tasks that took me half a day back in the early 1980s now take AI a couple of minutes, so there’s really very little for graduates to do.
I know doomsayers throughout history have warned how technology will destroy jobs. What’s saved us in the past is new jobs being created. I don’t see that happening at the moment. This time feels different. If I’m right, millions of people will be made redundant in the next few years.