According to a report shared at Davos World Economic Forum and published by Bloomberg, technology could worsen global inequalities.
“Social Mobility” Report showed that the most developed countries in the world, including Europe, Japan and the United States stand at the frontline of this divide.
In response, the WEF expressed at the Davos Forum recommendations for countries to improve social protection for tech-related workers and better educate older populations in the digital world.
When artificial intelligence gets in the way
What if artificial intelligence, whose sole purpose was to simplify humans’ lives, was about to create greater divides between different populations? According to a report shared by the World Economic Forum at Davos last month, AI could get in the way of social and economic justice.
As Bloomberg shared the story, AI has already participated in “altering personal taxation and addressing wealth concentration, improving education to better equip people throughout their working lives, and more social protection for those whose industries are facing upheaval”.
Last but not least, the most developed countries are the ones who are dividing the populations the most: Japan stands in 15th place, the United States in 27th place.
Read on Alvexo: “Electric Cars Confirm their ‘Megatrend’ Status”
A U-turn for the fourth revolution
To put it in a nutshell, the fourth revolution might be a U-turn for our modern society, especially for western countries.
According to Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff, “The fourth industrial revolution holds great promise in the creation of new jobs, new ways to cure disease and relieve suffering. But on the other hand there’s a risk that it will worsen our economic, racial, gender and even our environmental inequalities. This can be seen with AI. We are risking a new tech divide between those who have access to AI and those who do not”, said Salesforce chairman during a public announcement at the Davos forum, reports Techcrunch.
More jobs to come?
On the other hand, specialists agree that AI and its unfolding development will create new opportunities and create jobs that do not exist yet.
According to Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the chair of the WEF’s global AI council “AI could create 13-17 trillion dollars of incremental GDP in the next 11 years.”
AI will create new jobs and even new industries. @elinallison78 compares the effects of AI industry to car industry. #smartmindtrek #worklife #AI pic.twitter.com/RAB5ZhsRZt
— AI Hub Tampere (@AI_Hub_Tampere) January 30, 2020
Last but not least, AI will expand job opportunities. Fintech start-ups are set to expand their workforce by 19% thanks to artificial intelligence, which should be about 37,700 newly created roles within the next ten years, according to a report published by Cambridge University on Finextra.