MIT research shows human labour more cost-effective than AI

Joy Agwunobi

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have released a report on the progress of AI, and their findings indicate that while the technology is advancing rapidly, there are still certain tasks and jobs that remain uniquely human and are relatively cheaper. 

This comes at a time when many people are concerned about the potential for AI to replace human workers. While it’s true that AI will likely replace some jobs, the MIT report suggests that there are still many tasks and jobs that are uniquely human and will not be replaced by AI. 

The study found that AI will only be more profitable than human workers in a few specific industrie, it revealed that while AI will continue to advance, human workers are still an essential part of the economy.

The research, which  was funded by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and involved collecting data from online surveys on approximately 1,000 visually assisted tasks across 800 occupations. The results suggest that only three per cent of these tasks can be automated cost-effectively with current technology, but that number could rise to 40 per cent by 2030 as data costs fall and accuracy improves.

According to the report, there are still many tasks that require human skills and judgement, and AI should be seen as a tool to assist rather than replace humans.

The researchers also found that only 23 per cent of workers, measured in terms of dollar wages, could be effectively replaced by AI. They noted that in many cases, implementing and operating AI-assisted visual recognition systems is expensive, making it more economical to use human workers instead.

“We find that only 23 per cent of worker compensation ‘exposed’ to AI computer vision would be cost-effective for firms to automate because of the large upfront costs of AI systems,” the report stated.

Neil Thompson, the director of the FutureTech Research Project at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, said “Our study examines the usage of computer vision across the economy, examining its applicability to each occupation across nearly every industry and sector. We show that there will be more automation in retail and healthcare, and less in areas like construction, mining, or real estate.”