RIYADH: Every job could be replaced by artificial intelligence within the next 30 years or will at least be affected by it, according to an industry expert.
But Reza Zadeh, a Stanford professor and CEO of Matroid, a company which uses AI visual systems for quality control in manufacturing, says the outlook is positive.
“Every single human profession in some timeline, say in the next 30 years, will be somewhat changed by AI, may be completely replaced, and that’s fine. It’s completely wonderful,” he said during a panel discussion at the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Humanity will benefit from adopting AI, Zadeh told Arab News: “It will be immensely helpful to every single person, just like writing is, and the thing that makes it less scary and really useful to everyone is if you learn to harness it.”
He believes AI is an essential tool that should and will be used in all walks of life. An unapologetic optimist, he acknowledges however that the technology could also increase inequality.
“The reason you’re seeing me harp on this message (of learn to code) so much is so that people don’t get left behind,” he said.
Those who embraced the advice would become more effective, he said, but some would ignore it and be unable to keep up with the pace of innovation. In his view, AI is a tool as fundamental as writing and is already used in most industries in some way: “If you define AI as computers, name a profession that you don’t use a computer for. That includes your phone, your phone is a computer. It’s quite hard to find a profession where a phone isn’t used.”
In Zadeh’s view, the way AI will inevitably transform workplaces is no reason to halt the progress of technology.
One area in which AI is making significant inroads in Saudi Arabia is healthcare.
During the summit, Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre announced a new generative AI system that will be used to analyze clinical data from patient charts and streamline the way that medical staff make evidence-based decisions.
It is also developing a system which tracks how patients are moved through the hospital’s units, allowing management to identify bottlenecks and improve efficiency.
Dr Ahmad Abusalah, AI officer and manager of the Center of Healthcare Intelligence at KFSHRC, spoke to Arab News about the implications of the new system.
“It’s going to make people’s jobs easier. But there are concerns, and we must really address these,” he said.
One such worry was privacy, as the AI would inevitably deal with sensitive patient data. Another was the human bias that could affect the implementation of AI systems.
“If you’re going to use applications for clinical decisions, you better test them and validate them very well,” he said.
“It’s not just a matter of ‘this works elsewhere in the world and it is going to work here.’ We must test it and validate it and be sure that actually, it does generate the right information for the doctor.”
Abusalah also said healthcare professionals needed to learn to use emerging technologies in the right way. To that end, KFSHRC has created AI certification programs to train staff internally.
Despite the development of AI healthcare systems, Abusalah does not see a time where they could put jobs at risk.
“The human factor is still there,” he said. “It’s healthcare, it will be always there.”
However, others in the field are less hopeful.
Kevin Rad, chief digital officer of Swiss software company OPUSm AG, described a scenario in which the computing power of AI could replace human intelligence.
“We delegate thinking more and more, and the AI takes the lead in digital form. It’s happening today — you ask a question of your kid, they put it in ChatGPT,” he said.
“The digital generation has little patience to explore. In history, we said ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Now, if we delegate thinking, then who am I? Who are you? Hello, AI; bye, humans.”