China’s AI race runs headlong into a fragile job market

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The irony is that while companies say there isn’t enough AI-savvy talent, the same AI adoption could cost others their jobs. With the youth unemployment rate hovering at 15 per cent, and 10 million graduates entering the job market each year,

Chinese billionaire Zhou Hongyi, who founded internet security company Qihoo 360, said in June that he was planning to “get rid” of his entire marketing department to save the company “tens of millions a year”.

As jobs evolve alongside the development of AI, workers will need to adapt to activities that require more creativity and social intelligence.

Proponents of mass AI adoption point to the boost in productivity and the creation of new types of jobs.  For China, it would be a boon for its rapidly ageing society too as the country’s working-age population shrinks.

But the practical policy dilemma is that while AI can create high-value jobs, it is not at the scale needed to absorb large numbers of factory workers, drivers or administrative staff displaced by digitalisation. 

Qn: To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? (Cam. 2019)