B2 – Upper Intermediate
AI is undeniably useful in many different industries and applications. With the increasing automation of jobs, many people are concerned about the security of their employment.
Read the article to learn more about the impact of AI on the workforce and how some workers fear for their jobs.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230418-ai-anxiety-artificial-intelligence-replace-jobs
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “shy away from something” mean, “Instead of shying away from AI, employees should plan to embrace and educate.“? Use this phrase in your own sentence.
- What does “fluid” mean here, “It is normal to feel anxiety about the impact of AI because its evolution is fluid.“? Use “fluid” in a sentence in this context.
- What does “streamline” mean, “Technology advancements have shown us that, yes, technology has the potential to automate or streamline work processes.“? Use this word in your own sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you believe that AI will ultimately create more jobs than it replaces, as some experts suggest? Why or why not?
- What are some potential solutions to address job displacement caused by AI?
- How can governments and policymakers ensure that AI is used responsibly and for the benefit of society as a whole?
- Do you think that there are certain jobs or industries that are more vulnerable to job displacement caused by AI than others? Why or why not?
- Are you concerned about the potential impact of AI on your job or industry? Why or why not?
6 replies on “AI Anxiety: Workers Fear Losing Jobs to Artificial Intelligence”
5) I’m a software engineer and I’ve seen during these past years that many cutting-edge technologies (web 2.0, Big Data, DevOps, among others) have had their moment of glory but I think that, in a certain sense, it’s just a trend
4) Sure there are… it’s easy to see it in the supermarket, do you see any cashier? Or their jobs have been gradually displaced by… machines? (smart machines?) sad but true…
3) Well, I don’t trust in any politician to be honest, regardless of their political tendency I think they take their decisions based on their own benefit… so beware of them because AI is a powerful tool that they would use to control us in a certain sense.
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2) I am pretty sure that some jobs could not be displaced by AI, all those related to the humanities sector (teachers, psychologists, among others) or all those related to the health sector (doctors, nurses). So is there a solution to job displacement by AI? Based on my answer I would change the question to “are there jobs that cannot be displaced by AI?”
1) I’m not really sure, at some point we’ll have a
pike of work to develop algorithms in which AI
is based, in that case we’ll need to cover some job positions (software developers mostly) but after AI gains knowledge it might be
self suficient to develop its own algorithms and therefore some job positions could become unnecessary.