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By Cezar Taurion, head & partner of Digital Transformation & Economy at KICK Ventures / VP of Innovation Instituto Smart City Business America
Artificial Intelligence is already in a position to recognize objects in videos and photos, emotions on a human face, translate different languages, drive a vehicle, fly a drone, detect signs of cancer in the lungs more efficiently than a doctor, detect signs of pests in harvests, detect malware and countless other applications. It is clear to me that we are facing a pivotal point in society. The digital revolution is providing us with an avalanche of technological changes that have the potential to redesign the very essence of society and, of course, companies, their business models and professions. The challenge is very big and we have to understand the dynamics of these transformations in order not to be led by it, but to lead it.
The impact of AI cannot and should not be underestimated. What we already see shows that humanity is likely to change as much in the next 20-30 years as in the previous 300 years. Can you imagine what the world was like in 1718? Could anyone at that time even imagine a car? And on top of that without a driver? The Internet? A smartphone? Any mention of these witchcraft would be the subject of an inquisition.
There is no doubt that AI will affect society and employment as we know it. Automation, in its beginning, affected the production lines in the factories. Now the risk of unemployment affects functions that were previously reserved for humans. For example, truck driver. It is one of the most common jobs in the world. There are 3.5 million of them in the United States and here in Brazil we have more than one million registered for cargo transportation. The Dutch government has already carried out a successful test of driverless trucks crossing Europe.
Uber paid US$ 680 million to buy Otto, a startup that develops technology for autonomous trucks and which was founded by AI specialists from Google itself. McKinsey consultancy predicted that within eight years, a third of all trucks on the road will be autonomous, running without drivers. In perhaps 15 years, the truck driver, like the elevator operator, will be an anachronism. Uber invested in Otto not only to operate trucks, but because it wants to operate fleets of autonomous cars. In September 2016, it began testing this fleet in Pittsburgh. Canada's postal service wants to send unmanned planes instead of vans to deliver rural mail.
Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are driving a new era of intelligent automation, which will be a major driver of disruption in the years to come. AI will affect businesses, jobs, society and the economy. It will oblige the revision of the current educational formation, and will demand strong actions on the part of governments and companies. It is essential that corporations in all business sectors understand their potential impact or they will be left behind. AI is not the stuff of nerds or scientists, but it must be at board and CEO meetings.
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies.
The impact of AI cannot and should not be underestimated. What we already see shows that humanity is likely to change as much in the next 20-30 years as in the previous 300 years. Can you imagine what the world was like in 1718? Could anyone at that time even imagine a car? And on top of that without a driver? The Internet? A smartphone? Any mention of these witchcraft would be the subject of an inquisition.
There is no doubt that AI will affect society and employment as we know it. Automation, in its beginning, affected the production lines in the factories. Now the risk of unemployment affects functions that were previously reserved for humans. For example, truck driver. It is one of the most common jobs in the world. There are 3.5 million of them in the United States and here in Brazil we have more than one million registered for cargo transportation. The Dutch government has already carried out a successful test of driverless trucks crossing Europe.
Uber paid US$ 680 million to buy Otto, a startup that develops technology for autonomous trucks and which was founded by AI specialists from Google itself. McKinsey consultancy predicted that within eight years, a third of all trucks on the road will be autonomous, running without drivers. In perhaps 15 years, the truck driver, like the elevator operator, will be an anachronism. Uber invested in Otto not only to operate trucks, but because it wants to operate fleets of autonomous cars. In September 2016, it began testing this fleet in Pittsburgh. Canada's postal service wants to send unmanned planes instead of vans to deliver rural mail.
Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are driving a new era of intelligent automation, which will be a major driver of disruption in the years to come. AI will affect businesses, jobs, society and the economy. It will oblige the revision of the current educational formation, and will demand strong actions on the part of governments and companies. It is essential that corporations in all business sectors understand their potential impact or they will be left behind. AI is not the stuff of nerds or scientists, but it must be at board and CEO meetings.
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies.
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