Rapid high-tech progress in Artificial Intelligence likely to erode jobs
Robot humanoid use laptop and sit at table for big data analytic using AI thinking brain.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is defined as the simulation of human intelligence in machines and devices.
Discussions about generative AI have accelerated this month as thousands of people have tried using a tool called Chat GPT to write reports, articles, and press releases.
Some executives confess they use it to cross-check technical reports that their assistants bring to them.
There are reports that Google, the world’s leading search company that had revenue of $149 billion in 2021 from search advertising, has declared a code red on Chat GPT and moved staff to work on solutions to ward off the threat as Microsoft has signed on to partner with the new entrant.
AI has now separated itself from other technology concepts. These include blockchain, data analytics, 3D printing, the internet of things, cloud computing, augmented reality, robotics, and drones. Many are declaring 2023 will be the year of AI.
Yet AI is in use around us. Every day, your phone learns more about you. Your searches get better, it pushes the football scores of your favorite team, and weather updates of the city you are visiting.
AI can translate a news article from Chinese or Arabic to English as you read through and your camera settings adjust to give sharper, better images.
When you download a bank or loan app, it can assess an amount for you to borrow instantly.
Is there a risk to jobs? Automation and digitisation have been affecting job numbers for years and AI is part of the automation of process wave that could erode jobs. Investments in technology have made banks more efficient in extending services to customers.
Prevent fraud
From 17,000 bank staff serving one million customers in 1996, equivalent to one employee supporting 60 customers, and in 2019, one employee serves 1,948 customers.
Today, banks have AI chatbots on their apps and platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Some are Abby of Absa, Rafiki of Ecobank, Kaycee of KCB, Leo of UBA. Safaricom has Zuri, a chatbot which had an average of 24,000 interactions with customers per day in 2022.
There is more use for AI in the back office of banks by making processes faster. Banks deploy it to prevent fraud, plug gaps in loan or shipping documents and detect suspicious activity such as patterns of cash deposits to go around limits or rules.
They can flag transactions for a human supervisor to scrutinise them closer.
Some stock exchanges already use AI to write news articles for investors based on market trading activity, newswires, and company announcements.
In the future, they could also audit and analyze financial statements.
Some AI partnerships are at Stanbic Bank for trade finance documentation and KenIndia Assurance for motor claims processing.
Other AI concepts are being tested through a regulatory sandbox of the Capital Markets Authority to deliver automated investment advice, know-your-customer, and unsecured financing solutions.
There are still huge gaps in the Kenyan economic space such as availing longer-term finance without low collateral, improving agricultural productivity, having a better diagnosis of diseases, lowering the cost of building, managing food logistics, and connecting brands to influencers and customers.
Companies that work toward such solutions using AI may now have a better chance of securing financing.
