The artificial intelligence revolution is coming

Will robots and AI cause mass unemployment? Not necessarily, but they do bring other threats

In 1965, philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus, a staunch critic of artificial intelligence, boldly claimed that a machine would never beat a human at the game of chess. It would only be two years before the sceptical scholar was himself checkmated by an MIT-developed computer.
By 1997 machines were advanced enough to defeat one of the greatest chess minds of his time – Garry Kasparov. In 2015, our species’ finest player of the very intuitive and “human” game of Go repeatedly conceded to Google’s computer.

Automation and AI can make Millennials unemployed in the coming years
Governments may be tempted to focus on the benefits of technological progress, while largely ignoring its negative impacts. Low-income countries are particularly vulnerable unless policymakers have a clear understanding of the risks and potential of these new technologies. The sooner we start re-thinking and re-designing labour market policies, social security schemes and taxation systems, the better we will adapt to the future that is already happening.