FUTURE LIVING ISSUE
RISE OF THE MACHINES
IS YOUR JOB SAFE FROM ROBOTS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ? THE SHORT ANSWER IS YES – BUT YOU ’ LL NEED TO UPSKILL TO KEEP UP .
I t might sound like the stuff of science fiction , but artificial intelligence – AI – is rapidly changing the way we live and work . It guides what you watch on your favourite streaming platform , autocorrects your text messages , and powers predictive Google searches .
It ’ s also lurking in the background of many industries , such as manufacturing and retail . At least one-third of tasks in 60 per cent of occupations could soon be automated , according to a recent McKinsey & Company report .
So , does that mean anthropomorphic robots are coming to take your job in the not-so-distant future ? Not so fast . There ’ s little doubt AI will revolutionise the electrical industry in much the same way as it has other professions and facets of modern life . But , the human touch that ’ s unique to the work of electricians means the advance of automation presents as an opportunity , rather than a threat .
THINK LIKE A HUMAN First things first : what exactly is AI ?
“ At the most basic level , it ’ s computers making decisions that previously humans would only have been able to do ,” explains Ariel Liebman , a Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems and Director of the Monash Energy Institute at Monash University .
Computers powered by AI can perform tasks like speech recognition , visual perception and problem solving – but , crucially , these systems rely on humans to program or ‘ train ’ them first . The other key ingredient in AI is data , and the enormous growth in the amount of high-quality data that ’ s generated and stored by the world ’ s computers is helping us realise the potential of the technology .
As for what AI looks like in real life , let ’ s say you have a building management system monitoring heating in an apartment . Because the system has access to so much data , it might sense that you ' ve turned your toaster on and you ' ve also got your oven running , which means the indoor temperature is creeping up to 24 or 25 degrees – not the 23 degrees you ’ d set .
“ The system , powered by AI , turns your heating system off , because you ' re already compensating with other devices in the home that are heating ,” explains Steve Hall , General
18 GEMCELL . COM . AU JUN – JUL 2022