AI, jobs, and the next generation

In 1838, the invention of the camera sparked predictions that photography would make artists obsolete. When the noted French painter Paul Delaroche first saw an early photograph on a metal plate, he declared that “From today, painting is dead!” As he reasoned, why would anyone pay an artist to slowly and laboriously paint a scene when a camera could do the job more accurately, more quickly, and at a lower cost? This question has echoed through technological shifts and has resurfaced with intensity in recent weeks, as university students graduated on campuses across the United States. The topic is not photography, but the societal impact of artificial intelligence. And as graduates booed the mention of AI during commencement addresses, they have provided a powerful reminder of several important truths. To start, people will insist on having a say in deciding when and how AI is used.