Remember, Mr Bucket of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lost his local toothpaste factory capping job to a machine. And, we know, this isn't limited to just the movies. Decades ago, people were miffed as machines started replacing their jobs. While all jobs aren't taken as some fortunately still need human intelligence, it may not be the case anymore.
And, probably the exodus has already begun. 34 workers at a Japanese insurance firm called Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance are replaced by an artificial intelligence system. The move was aimed at getting better efficiency in payouts to policyholders by replacing workers with AI system that runs on IBM's Watson Explorer.
"By introducing this system, we anticipate that we can reduce the burden of business process by about 30%, the company . The company has already introduced "IBM Watson Explorer" to analyse customer's voice and complaints. The Guardian points out that the firm will see returns on its investment in less than a year.
This takes us to the future where technological unemployment could be one of the modern-age issues. While we would seek for more efficiency, it may come at the cost of unemployment. Another Japanese company, Dai-Ichi Life Insurance, has also introduced a Watson-based system that helps assess payments.
Last year, we saw AI make inroads into journalism. We saw Wordsmith, a platform providing robot journalists to organisations made available to the public. We also saw Associated Press' 'robot journalists'. Well, there is still human intelligence needed, and we don't rely on AI for just about anything, as yet. However, the pace at which AI is seeing acceptance and improvement, this may likely change in the future.
Though not limited to, it seems to be more prominent in Japan. BigThink explains that Japanese companies are adopting such methods as it is believed the country's population will shrink to 83 million from 127 million by 2100. And, more than 35 percent of its population will be over the age of 65 years. This has also led to development of carebots.
While our jobs look safe for now, there is no denying that companies are already testing bots as customer care executives. They are faster and offer users efficient solution without problems like illness, tiredness and inconsistency in productivity.