AI can’t take over the world

Day by day, the news cycle surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) is startling. From being able to supposedly generate a tremendous amount of money from trading bots on Claude to finding a “cure” for a dog with cancer by a person with zero medical knowledge in Australia, AI is literally changing the world in real time.

We have been warned by the purveyors of AI that the number of entry-level white collar jobs are going to be very hard to secure in the future and that AI is replacing a host of other white-collar jobs. Apart from that, we are also told that companies are slashing headcount after reporting record profits and AI is existentially going to threaten the future of labour.

Foresight into such events has been highlighted through various news events – JPMorgan announcing record profit and a 20,000-headcount cut, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, reporting very strong profit and reportedly proceeding to cut 20% of its staff.

Global banking giant HSBC is also looking to make deep job cuts to accommodate the wider use of AI in its operations. Such news is just a sample of what profitable companies have announced in recent weeks as AI transformation is integrated more widely into the operations of companies.

The scale and speed of just how sophisticated AI has become can be gleaned from the clip of actor Will Smith eating spaghetti.

From a crude and comical version in 2023 to the slick and increasingly indistinguishable 2026 version between reality and fake, AI is blurring the role of humans and machines as the days go by.

Machines and AI are becoming more capable in executing tasks done by humans. The speed in which AI solves tasks is astonishing, and the scary truth is that AI is only going to get better in the years ahead.

The immediate concern is going to be the hit on employment. Right now, news of computer science graduates finding it tough in the United States to get a job is already making its rounds.

That is also cascading to graduates in other fields, which only reinforces the message to students who are pursuing a degree or are about to better find a way of levelling up, so to speak, when equipping themselves with the necessary skills and knowledge.

Youngsters pursuing a trade, like an electrician or plumber, or a TVET skill might be isolated from the ravages of the tough job market for now, but for how long. Eventually, young adults are going to follow the money and flood trade or TVET sources in order to earn a living.

Imagine what that will do to starting salaries. Those who are thinking of going to university and paying a lot of money to study gender studies better start reconsidering that decision.

The trend has been that seniors in tech fields stand a better chance if they were to incorporate some AI knowledge and ability to mash with their core education to stand a better chance of employment.

The way things are going, using fewer people to accomplish more seems to be the underlying trend. Productivity will boom, but at what cost?

The world might find a crunch in jobs in the not too distant future. If AI learns and progresses at the frightening pace it has been doing, the traditional job market might be upended years from now. Profit-oriented companies will love it, but it will come at the detriment of society and politics.

In the end, the difference between AI and robots, and an employed worker is that an unemployed worker has something AI does not – a vote.

Politics is already seeing pressure being exerted now in New York where legislators are trying to advance a bill to make it illegal for AI chat bots to provide advice in fields such as medicine or law.

Lawmakers abroad are already pushing new legislation in a variety of ways to limit and slow the damaging effects of AI on employment.

The question before us in Malaysia is whether we will

do something to make sure the dignity of employment is preserved in Malaysia, while not impeding the progress and competitiveness of local companies to incorporate AI and robotics in their operations.

That is certainly a fine balance where maybe an AI tax can be levied on companies.

Companies will need to be compelled by law to disclose displacements in the workplace that is caused by AI and from that quantify the impact on AI and robotics on the bottom line. This will have to be, of course, audited.

The people who cannot get a job will require some sort of welfare payment or retraining for them to survive and become productive.

There is a huge incentive to use AI in business operations as that can lead to a huge jump in productivity and also profit.

Over-taxing a company for AI use can see them leave to other jurisdictions, but at the same time, there will be a need to placate unemployed people as they will be voters.

And it can be a big political leverage just as the goods and services tax or GST was in Malaysian politics. The path forward will not be easy, but hopefully, one that can be traversed with care and pragmatism to ensure an equitable outcome for all parties.