In BriefA chief strategy officer has stated that retraining is theanswer to the threat that AI represents to jobs and livelihoods.However, several other industry leaders back other solutions tothis major stumbling block in the age of automation. Retraining as Retaining

Jeremy Auger, a Chief Strategy Officer at D2L, an educational technology company, has asserted in a post on entrepreneur.com that the way for humans to maintain their relevance in the labor force in the face of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation developments is through ongoing, career-long retraining. His voice is added to a choir of individuals who are preaching the same message.

Auger argues that AI represents an unprecedented challenge to the work force on account of its cerebral capabilities, which could see it replacing the human workforce in the cognitive space as well as the physical one. He argues that

learning cant end with graduation. To be competitive, companies will need to step up and provide education opportunities themselves, while encouraging self-directed learning so they can ensure that their workers are continually acquiring new skills

Firstly, he argues that we need to change what people learn. Rather than attempt to match AI in ability, we should instead aim to cultivate the skills that AI is unlikely to develop, such as innovation and creativity: seeing connections in seemingly unrelated things. This is the impetus behind other related programs like IBMs P-Tech, which seeks to give children today a more tech-oriented education that befits tomorrows automation-driven world.

He also argues that we should shift the onus of education away from parents and schools, and towards ourselves and the companies we are part of, who should take responsibility for continually providing opportunities for their employees to develop. This is a view shared by David Kenny, IBMs senior Vice President for Watson, who wrote in an article for Wired that we should be

updating the Federal Work-Study program, something long overdue, [which] would give college students meaningful, career-focused internships at companies rather than jobs in the school cafeteria or library

However, retraining and re-educating is not the end-all-be-all answer to the ever-growing issue that is automation.There are rival choirs who are lauding different solutions to AI joining the workforce, which Stephen Hawking states will cause job destruction deep into the middle classes, and Oxford University researchers claim that 47 percent of US jobs are at riskbecause of it.

Bill Gates has proposed taxing robots and corporations in order to provide for people whose jobs are being replaced: he has asserted that Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, Social Security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, youd think that wed tax the robot at a similar level.

Others have proposed a system of universal basic income (UBI) an income prescribed by the government to any citizen to give individuals the money that they would have earned through a job replaced by automation. People would then be able to work to augment their pay, but would always be able to survive regardless of whether they are employed.

Mark Zuckerberg is an advocator of the UBI strategy, viewing it as a platform for innovation rather than the sad consequence of being exceeded by a robot. He told Harvard graduates that We should explore ideas like universal basic income to make sure everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.

There are a spectrum of views concerning the best response to increasing automation of the working world although none of them seem to guarantee the best situation for AI and humans. However, it is important that we continue to have these conversations now rather than face themafter the problem has progressed much further.

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Expert Asserts that Retraining is the Best Response to AI Automation - Futurism