AI is going to displace lots of jobs. So should we all just retrain away from our non-AI work and specialise to work exclusively on AI?
I completed the “AI for Everyone” course today, and near the end, AI expert Andrew Ng shared a story that will be relevant to a variety of careers.
A radiologist just starting out asked Andrew for some career advice. Since AI can now read x-rays, should the radiologist just quit their profession and go into AI instead?
Andrew’s advice was pragmatic: No, you don’t have to.
Yes, you can switch careers if you wish. Some people do so successfully and there are lots of online resources that can help you retrain without spending lots of money.
However, it’s worth considering the alternative: Stay in the radiologist profession but also learn enough about AI to be able to uniquely operate at the intersection of radiology and AI. This combination could be hugely more valuable.
Moreover, AI isn’t yet good enough to replace radiologists completely. In addition, we are facing a global radiologist shortage!
Similar advice can apply to other careers. If you’re training to be a lawyer, learn enough about AI to be a leader at the intersection of law and technology. If you’re a journalist, learn enough about AI to use it in your work to create more value for the public. In my case, I’ve been operating at the intersection technology and finance for a while, but increasingly, I’m also exploring how AI can be leveraged in the venture capital profession.
Ps. Here’s a radiologist’s take. He offers another pragmatic view, posing questions such as, “who’s liable for conclusions of the AI software?”, “how much does it really help?” (good radiologists can read x-rays fast anyway), “do patients trust it?”, and he concludes that he doesn’t think AI will replace him in the near term.
Pss. This video below offers another take. The summary is: (1) AI will augment (not replace) doctors and radiologists. This will allow them to focus on more complex situations. (2) Radiologists will have to adapt and use AI to do better work. (3) We need to use AI responsibility and ethically in such a life-critical field.