Overview
We are seeing increased complexification correlated to innovation in B2B markets. AI is both a complex instrument and an innovation, and is an excellent example of current and future trends in the economy. Consequently, as leaders analyze human capital needs, they may find that AI and other forms of automation are attractive. This can lead to skill polarization, leaving some people and firms behind.
This oncoming phenomenon reminds me of the work of Martin Ford (2009), predicting that automation and accelerating technologies, such as AI, will make a huge impact on the economy, portending an employment crisis. “A substantial fraction of the routine, specialized jobs held by average people - including many people with college degrees - simply do not really require the full intellectual breadth of a human being” (Ford, 2009, p. 2). Ford wrote his book in 2009, intrigued by the effects of the Great Recession.
From Ford’s (2009) perspective, skill polarization exists, as Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2014) shared, but it is a moving fence that separates those who struggle to keep pace and those on the other side of the fence. With accelerating technology, a greater percentage of jobs, even the supposed knowledge workers, will be subject to displacement.
Ford’s thesis is that machines will become autonomous, removing the need for human labor. Furthermore, the fundamental principle of the free market economy is dependent on labor, which provides the purchasing power for everything the economy produces. If machines reduce the need for labor, leading to increased and progressive unemployment, then the foundation of the economic system is at risk.
I invite you to explore Ford’s thoughts, which are provocative arguments.
All:
- For the present, have you witnessed the effects of AI in your work experience?
- Is your job threatened or influenced by AI?
- Let’s expand our framework; what are the implications for the B2B marketer?
- References
- Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. W.W. Norton & Company. Ford, M. (2009). The lights in the tunnel: Automation, accelerating technology and the economy of the future. Acculent.