AI, unemployment, and the paradox of progress

By Gonzalo López Martí – LMMMiami

The belief that technology will turn a few solipsistic individuals into money-hoarding multitasking renaissance men and women with multiple abilities, while putting millions out to pasture in the process, has been disproven by history once and again.

The paradox of progress.

Technology doesn’t kill jobs.

It unfolds responsibilities.

It unlocks tasks.

It multiplies duties.

It increases the need for compliance.

Oddly enough, it expands bureaucracy (Parkinson’s law*).

Technology opens up a rabbit hole of hyperspecialization.

In the 1960s, the average NFL team had 5 to 8 coaches: a head coach, a few offensive/defensive assistants, and perhaps a quarterback coach.

Today the average NFL team employs more than 30 coaches.

Most of them specialists dedicated to one position, e.g., passing game coordinator, assistant defensive line coach, senior offensive assistant, and so on and so forth.

But let’s get… err… scientific.

In the 19th century, the village barber was also the dentist.

In other words: there was no such thing as a dentist.

The village barber was a “generalist”, specialized in all bodily growths: hair, beard, fingernails, toenails and teeth.

If a tooth hurt, it was expeditiously removed.

End of story.

Eventually, science, technology, SOCIETAL VALUES & PRIORITIES evolved.

Hey, a tooth is a terrible thing to waste.

Let’s get more granular in treating oral health and salvaging your smile.

Lo and behold, dentistry was born**.

Today, by the way, there er at least eight types of dentistry subspecialties.

General practitioner.

Pedodontist or Pediatric Dentist.

Orthodontist.

Periodontist or Gum Specialist.

Endodontist or Root Canal Specialist.

Oral Pathologist or Oral Surgeon.

Prosthodontist.

Reconstructive and esthetic dentist.

Not counting hygienists, various assistants et al.

Anyhoo.

Does this mean that the job market as we currently know it will not be impacted by AI?

No.

Some job descriptions will be made redundant.

However, in parallel, many other occupations will materialize.

Seemingly out of thin air.

There’s no denying that the AI craze is putting enormous pressure on companies big and small to cut costs.

The Silicon Valley hype machine is daunting.

Upper management’s initial reflex reaction will be to fire people and blindly bet on AI.

It’s happening.

Exhibit 1: Oracle.

A money-printing juggernaut beloved by Wall Street that, still, just laid off some 30k employees.

The excuse: some AI-related, HR-sanctioned word salad.

For a short period of time, this will look great on the balance sheet.

For the same reason it looks great on your checking account to stop paying your bills.

A mirage of fleeting bliss.

Sooner rather than later, the dam will break.

Humans will be needed, again, to pick up the pieces and restart innovation.

 

*Parkinson’s law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

** Dentistry formally became a professional academic field with the founding of the first dental college in 1840, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.