Page 102 - Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja 1 2018

English Summaries Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja 1/2018
English summaries
Arti cial Intelligence and Changing Work
Olli Koski, M.Soc.Sc. (economics), Director, Ministry of Economic A airs and Employment
Arti cial intelligence (AI) has risen very prominently to policy debate over the past two years. AI is expected to signi cantly a ect the labor market and workplace structures. This article rst summarizes what is meant by arti - cial intelligence and why it is such a major issue right now. After that, I assess some existing esti- mates of labor market impacts of AI. I brie y dis- cuss how arti cial intelligence and digital plat- forms are linked and how they reinforce each other. Finally, I go through the debate on the dis- tributional e ects of arti cial intelligence tech- nologies and then summarize the main ndings of the article and present some policy recom- mendations.
When formulating an e ective social and labor policy response to AI, we’ll rst have to reject dichotomous thinking, where develop- ment is seen only as either blissful or harmful. Machines are not conquering the world and work is not running out. On the other hand, all citizens are not automatically winners of this develop- ment, and technological advances may also pro- duce unpleasant societal surprises. In reality, there are both good and bad aspects of develop-
ment. Policies need to be designed to strengthen the good e ects and mitigate the harmful.
Labor market policy should prepare for turbu- lence. The most important question is whether our education system can quickly and exibly update the skills of working-age population. Educational content in all levels of the edu- cational system should take into account the need to develop social intelligence and other AI-complementing skills. The demand for com- binations of di erent technological skills and interaction skills will probably grow. The num- ber of people in need of training can be so high that there’s a need to improve the supply of edu- cation by reforming its structures.
Overall, the Nordic model is a good starting point to bene t from AI. Compared to other Nordic countries, Finland faces a greater chal- lenge to employ low-skilled people. This will require us to implement more incentives in unemployment insurance, provide exible train- ing and adequate employment services, as well as take care of preconditions for the creation of meaningful job opportunities.
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