Rethinking AI’s impact: MIT CSAIL study reveals economic limits to job automation

A recent study by MIT, The Productivity Institute, and IBM’s Institute for Business Value challenges the notion that AI will replace human jobs. The study examines the practicality of using AI, precisely computer vision, for automating tasks in the workplace. The study reveals that only about 23% of wages paid for tasks involving vision are economically feasible for AI automation; it makes sense to replace human labour with AI in only about one-fourth of the jobs where vision is a critical component of the work.

The study suggests a gradual integration of AI into various sectors rather than the rapid job displacement hypothesized by many. It also looks at AI-as-service platforms and how they could potentially change the landscape of task automation. The study’s implications extend beyond immediate economic considerations, touching on broader societal impacts such as workforce retraining and policy development. The study suggests that if reduced AI costs and new AI services contribute to improved productivity growth at the macroeconomic level, employment and income growth will quicken, and living standards will improve.

Source: MIT CSAIL

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