Artificial Intelligence and automation have been huge leaps into our new technology-driven world. Today we live in a time where cars can drive themselves, chatbots can respond intelligently to customer service inquiries, and business intelligence has been automated.
While Artificial Intelligence has bought with it many opportunities, it is not without its challenges and risks as well. This new technology-driven world increases productivity and improves our lives in general, but with the widespread adoption of these new technologies, there is a displacement of human activity.
While some have been concerned that this will leave a shortage of jobs in the future, the truth is that it is more likely to result in a serious skill gap. But is Artificial Intelligence an excellent opportunity for our innovative world, or a troubling skill shortage?
The Many Opportunities Of Artificial Intelligence
The new opportunities that Artificial Intelligence has brought to the world cannot be ignored. Particularly for businesses, AI opens up many new avenues and has immense potential. Artificial Intelligence can help to maximise marketing budgets by provided valuable insights into which activities deliver the highest return.
Big data can be unlocked to reveal information that is actionable, helping businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions. The opportunities that Artificial Intelligence brings to customer support is undeniable, with the rise of automated chatbots, and AI managed support tickets. Even the smallest of businesses can scale up their customer service efforts without expensive resources.
The more we learn about Artificial Intelligence and the more ways we find to use it, the more opportunities we develop for both businesses and individuals.
The Artificial Intelligence Skills Shortage
It is a common concern that Artificial Intelligence will eliminate the need for many jobs, such as customer service operatives, call centre staff and more. However, the fact is that Artificial Intelligence is not destroying jobs but displacing them elsewhere.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that Artificial Intelligence would create more new jobs than the ones it destroys. It has predicted that by 2022, 75 million jobs will be displaced because of Artificial Intelligence and automation, but a huge 133 million new jobs will be created.
The problem the world faces is that the many new jobs created by Artificial Intelligence are in different industries and require different skillsets than the ones it is destroying. There needs to be a major revolution to retrain and educate the workforce in the skills needed to support Artificial Intelligence.
Without this, there is going to be a very serious talent shortage as not enough workers will have the necessary AI skills to fill the new roles. The number of individuals choosing to train and work within Artificial Intelligence roles is rising rapidly, but it still remains a job-seekers market.
Currently, there are thousands of engineers with Artificial Intelligence skills across the globe, but as technologies increase in popularity, millions will be required. There is no shortage in demand for AI products and services, and companies producing these need the talent to be able to scale rapidly. The number of companies hiring Artificial Intelligence roles is increasingly quickly, but the number of workers with the required skills is lacking. We are now looking at an alarming situation where the AI skills shortage is a major barrier to the adoption of these new technologies. Overcoming this skills shortage hurdle is essential for Artificial Intelligence technologies to be implemented more widely.
The Artificial Intelligence Talent Pool
The talent pool of workers with Artificial Intelligence skills and knowledge is shallow, with very few individuals appropriately trained and ready to work in the industry. Recent reports have shown that the countries which are most committed to training Artificial Intelligence skills are also the ones that are leading in employment.
The United States is ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to Artificial Intelligence skills, followed by China, the UK and Germany. The same countries are leading the way when it comes to employing AI talent, and universities employ the majority of AI experts.
Another key finding from these reports was that women are massively underrepresented when it comes to Artificial Intelligence roles.
Currently, nearly every company in the world is considering Artificial Intelligence tools and how they can improve their business. Many now consider AI and automation to be top business priorities and are planning new Artificial Intelligence projects in the future. It is because of this excitement around Artificial Intelligence prospects that the demand for AI professionals is growing.
Training and development in Artificial Intelligence are more popular than ever, but in some cases, training programmes are struggling to keep up with the pace of innovations.
AI experts require not only AI training but first-hand experience working with Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence Training
Here at TSG Training, we are specialists in providing training courses for Artificial Intelligence. Our range of online and virtual courses cover all levels of AI training, from Foundation courses to advanced options. BCS Essentials In Artificial Intelligence is a popular course among learners with a keen interest in Artificial Intelligence.
It is a great way to get a solid understanding of what AI is, how it works and what it can be used for. Our BCS Foundation Course In Artificial Intelligence is the latest of our AI courses and takes place over three days. During the course, learners will build on the essentials certification and discover how AI delivers business, engineering and knowledge benefits.
In addition to our online courses, we offer free Webinars which provide an insight into our courses and subjects. The Artificial Intelligence Webinar Recording covers all the basics of Artificial Intelligence, the machine learning process and the benefits and challenges these can bring. Our AI training courses and AI webinars are perfect for those looking to begin a career in Artificial Intelligence, automation or machine learning.
