A Nobel Prize-winning economist is sounding the alarm about the future of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence, arguing that many of the currently in-demand jobs could soon be obsolete.
“The skills that are needed now — to collect the data, collate it, develop it and use it to develop the next phase of AI, or more to the point, make AI more applicable for jobs — will make the skills that are needed now obsolete because it will be doing the job,” said Christopher Pissarides, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics, in a recent interview, according to a report from Time. “Despite the fact that you see growth, they’re still not as numerous as might be required to have jobs for all those graduates coming out with STEM because that’s what they want to do.”
The comments come as 2023 became a breakthrough year for AI technology, which has rapidly developed and gained increased mainstream applications. But some have feared that such technology will make many current jobs obsolete, causing a major disruption to the world’s labor markets.
Despite the current high demand for young students to enter STEM fields, Pissarides says that could also change as AI continues to improve.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides warns that the rapid development of AI could ultimately render many STEM careers obsolete. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images/File)
“This demand for these new IT skills, they contain their own seeds of self-destruction,” the award-winning economist said.
Samuel Mangold-Lenett, a staff editor at The Federalist, told Fox News Digital that AI can benefit STEM workers by doing much of the “grunt work” that takes its human counterparts more time to complete, but he warned there is a danger in becoming too reliant on the technology.
“It can process data and run simulations in a fraction of the time that students, or even…
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