When we talk about the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), we often talk about the jobs that are under threat. But some jobs and tasks are untouchable by AI… at least for now.
“Artificial intelligence has evolved so quickly that it brings uncertainties,” says Laurent Charlin, a core member at MILA and associate professor at HEC Montréal. “If we continue at this pace, things that we could not imagine before will be possible.”
According to him, AI is able to take over some tasks related to a job, without necessarily completely replacing the worker. He cites jobs in the medical world as an example.
“AI will certainly be able to read an X-ray very efficiently, but it’s not going to do the job of a radiologist. Being a radiologist means a lot of other things.”
Healthcare can never be completely taken over by AI, also believes Wassim Bouachir, professor in the science and technology department at TELUQ and AI specialist. Why? Because the human component counts for a lot.
“Everything that relates to ethics and responsibility cannot be replaced by AI,” he explains. “AI cannot replace a doctor. It can be an aid to decision-making. But when we talk about human intervention, we are talking about empathy. On a crisis line, for example: the person in psychological distress wants to be in the presence of a human interlocutor.”
Exhibition and complementarity
To understand what is unassailable by AI, Xavier Parent-Rocheleau, assistant professor in the human resources management department at HEC Montréal, relies on the repetitive nature of a task: if it is routine and if little sustained mental effort is required, AI is likely to be able to perform this task, he says.
He cites a recent Statistics Canada report indicating that 60% of Canadian employees could be exposed to AI in their jobs – but for half of that proportion, AI would be complementary to their tasks. This means that AI is transforming more than it is replacing…
“We have to ask ourselves to what extent the worker is exposed to AI and to what extent it is complementary to the work,” he emphasizes. “The people who are most exposed to AI, but for whom it is very complementary, are the most untouchable workers. They will have literacy and they will know how to use it.”
He refers, for example, to health professionals where there is “great professional accountability”, but also to the field of education and management. In this case, “AI can help automate tasks and thus give the manager more time”, he comments.
Movements and environment
Another category of employees is unreachable by AI: blue-collar workers. Jobs in the electricity, transportation, construction, and agriculture sectors are “not feasible at the moment,” says Mr. Parent-Rocheleau, a member of the Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology.
Laurent Charlin, holder of a Canada-CIFAR Chair in Artificial Intelligence, agrees: manual jobs, because of the complexity of the movements and the uncontrolled environment, will be difficult to replace.
“For a garbage collector, for example, the movements are too varied and complex for robotics to replace them. On an assembly line, it’s different.”
He points out that AI requires data, lots of data, and a standardized environment to work well. Also, AI does not create: highly creative jobs, those for which great expertise is required and whose objective is to design something new, are therefore untouchable… for the moment.
Expertise and creativity
Wassim Bouachir, from TELUQ, cites the example of his own work as a scientific researcher: the fine expertise and strong creativity required cannot be replaced by AI.
“The technological innovation sector, where we look for new ideas and want to create something completely new, cannot be replaced by AI, because there is no existing data and there is no history.”
What if AI became super intelligent and managed to create something entirely new, what would happen? It’s hard to say…
“It will still have to be accepted by humans,” says Mr. Charlin.
Check out the report Experimental estimates of potential occupational exposure to artificial intelligence in Canada