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10 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 Artificial Intelligence and Alterations to the Workforce Many past concerns regarding artificial intelligence's growth in the workplace have involved how it may lead to layoffs due to employee redundancy. Based on robotics' transformation of industrial manufacturing, business prognosticators envisioned a world in which computer- based AI would replace white-collar workers entirely in office settings. Articles and studies between 2000 and 2016 reinforced these older fears despite the burgeoning data providing evidence that this "great replacement" would not occur as feared. More recently, data has revealed a substantially different reality. "Work Smarter, Not Harder" As in the financial sector example, an industry can easily become a pioneer in AI-augmented professional labor. Rather than replace financial advisors and hedge fund managers, algorithms and AI-driven purchase tools supplemented traditional experts' views. Financial firms discovered that there was no less of a need for these experts. Instead, those experts were reassigned to higher- level tasks, providing increased attention to clients while offloading menial, repetitive tasks to AI. In multiple white-collar industries, AI replaces the tasks often given to new employees who are entering at the bottom of the hierarchy. Experienced employees can rely on algorithms and automated software to handle countless hours of grunt work. The results include more personalized mentorship for new employees and greater productivity without any downsizing or layoffs due to automation "destroying" jobs. A Transformed Landscape As artificial intelligence and automation present unique opportunities for workplaces in various industries, it is worth considering several changes to the workplace that are likely to occur. Increasingly Digitized Workflows - Document digitization, access, and storage are key functions that are ideal for automation to handle. Employees must presently spend large amounts of time working on file organization systems. This time begins during the training process and increases each time new documents are collected or disseminated in a workplace. As these data structures change, employees must retrain on organizational mechanisms and spend additional time correcting the human errors that inevitably occur. AI offers unique opportunities by taking this menial task out of employees' hands, which saves time both up front and over time as it simplifies data access procedures. • Digital Security: Network Controls - A team at Microsoft recently articulated what AI requires to defend itself against malicious attacks and abuse from uninvited actors. The report identified the two features that AI must possess to resist attacks: resilience and discretion. Resilience "AI replaces the tasks often given to new employees who are entering at the bottom of the hierarchy." F E A T U R E S

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