BY JASON PRINT, CFP® CO-CEO
Have there been two letters more popular than “AI” in the last couple of years? This acronym, which stands for artificial intelligence, has certainly dominated the earnings calls of many publicly traded companies. Not only has it whipped the investment community into a frenzy, but a lot of people rave about how ChatGPT and other AI models free up enormous amounts of time and help them summarize long pieces of text or compose emails.
So, should we be concerned about AI wiping out millions of jobs? Will it change the way we go about our daily lives? Perhaps, but probably not to the degree many people fear. It’s likely to change our lives. Much of it will be an improvement although there will be unintended consequences or hassles along the way. Online banking has made paying monthly bills much easier and quicker, but we now have to worry about our bank accounts being hacked.
Similarly to online banking, AI will make things easier, but there will likely be risks along the way. While it may not completely eliminate industries or jobs, it will change the way we do some things. There are still many people employed as receptionists and administrative assistants. Thirty years ago, a large part of these jobs was answering phones and scheduling appointments. We now have email to set up appointments and voicemail to communicate with those who call when we are not available. Some feared that these new capabilities would eliminate the need for receptionists and assistants altogether. In reality, the job has changed, and we may not need as many, but there is still a need. Assistants now spend a great deal of time sorting through the hundreds of emails coming in every day – a problem we didn’t have 20 years ago.
Another example that comes to mind is travel agents. I remember when we could first book a plane ticket online – wow! It was 2000 and I was trying to book a flight to Hawaii. I had dial-up internet (remember that AOL tone?) and it took me 45 minutes. Despite the fact that we can now book almost anything travel-related online, I know of many travel agents who make a good living and stay very busy. After all, is that really the excursion I want to go on? Which state room is the best on the ship? My guess is that some jobs are different from 20 years ago, but the technology didn’t eliminate an industry – it just changed things, likely making them better, cheaper, and more efficient than decades ago.
I see AI as the same type of catalyst. When I was in college (30 years ago – yikes!), the new program being rolled out at my university was computer programming. Universities were predicting that a huge number of computer programmers would be needed to drive the technological revolution, and they proved correct. It’s been an exploding field over the last 30 years. However, AI may be able to do some basic computer programming better and more efficiently than a human being did 20 years ago. Will computer programming disappear completely? I wouldn’t bet on it. There’s a strong likelihood we get something similar to the travel industry. Basic stuff can be done by AI, but there will be new needs and problems to be solved that it can’t quite handle yet.
While companies are tripping over themselves and spending billions in a race to build the best AI platform, it’s extremely difficult to predict which one will come out on top. More to come in future newsletters on DeepSeek vs. ChatGPT.
