Chief economist of the Bank of England: artificial intelligence or lead to widespread unemployment

Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, said earlier that AI could cause widespread long-term unemployment in the  British people, according to the Financial Times.

Haldane, a member of the bank’s interest-rate committee, said the impact of automation of cognitive skills would be more dramatic, surpassing the 18th century industrial revolution and the popularity of computers in 20th century.




“Each time (technological revolution) has had a painful and long-lasting impact on the job market and on the lives and livelihoods of many people in society, and their work is effectively occupied by various types of machines,” he said. 

Despite the previous wave of technological change that has led to new jobs replacing old jobs, Haldane, in an interview with BBC Channel 4 (BBC Radio 4), said it was an “open question” whether the technology revolution would lead to a large-scale long-term unemployment wave in the UK.

Haldane says the UK needs to learn from “historical lessons” to ensure that workers receive training, adapt to the new working environment and provide a state welfare  to mitigate the impact of technological change.

The unemployment rate rose sharply in the early 80, as Britain went to industrialization and large parts of the UK lost the industries it depended on to survive.
　Figures released last week showed that the UK’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since early 1975 in June.
　

However, a report by the OECD earlier this year said that the fear of large-scale unemployment caused by automation was “exaggerated” as most jobs were more automated than previously estimated by the Institute.

Asked if he was worried that his work would also be automated, haldane said that while “” it’s good to combine the best data, human judgment will still play an important role.”

Artificial intelligence technology develops by leaps and bounds

Thanks to the advances in algorithms and the impetus of big data, AI technology has developed rapidly over the past two years and is having a profound impact on more and more fields.

According to the research data of world economy BBS in 2016, the rise of robot and artificial intelligence in 15 major industrialized countries will lead to the loss of 5.1 million jobs by 2020, mostly in low-cost, labor-intensive jobs.

Moses Wadi, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Leicester, said that humans could do nothing in the future, and that everything would be done by robots, with the human unemployment rate exceeding 50% in 2045.

Experts at McKinsey’s international consulting firm believe that with the spread of intelligent robots, 75% of the work of coffee shops and restaurants can now be replaced by robots, and catering workers will face a new wave of unemployment.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the future if the AI era really comes, then a large part of the people will be unemployed. In fact, the problem is a cliché, but not alarmist at all.

Throughout history, every industrial revolution has its dark side, which is to replace a part of the work of the people.

The first industrial revolution, for example, gave birth to a steam engine and many tools, replacing the work of a large part of the world. Among them, textile workers are the most affected, many textile workers were laid off.

Therefore, it is necessary to prove that a new era is coming, there will certainly be a part of the people are eliminated from the society, because the machine will replace them.

A research institute has made a research forecast, in more than 10 years, that is, 2020, AI will replace 2.3 million positions, there will be 1.8 million jobs replaced, then you should ask yourself, you are one of these people?