The Socio-Economic Impact Of

Machine Learning And Artificial Intelligence

IT-309, Technical and Business Communication

Information Technology Department
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

Prepared for
Dr. Tanushree Choudhary
Head I/C Humanities & Social Sciences
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

Prepared by
Rahul Khanna
760/IT/14

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Summary

The report talks about the socio-economic impact of machine learning and
artificial intelligence. Machine learning explores the study and construction of
algorithms that can learn from and can actually make predictions on data. With
the growth in processing power, the field has recently gained momentum and is
slowly changing the way the society works. The self-driving cars, online
recommendation offers such as those from Amazon and Netflix, Email Spam
Filtering, Auto- Tagging photos on FB, voice recognition, such as Apple’s Siri, all of
these are examples of the unending applications of Artificial Intelligence. The
positive effect of AI and ML to the society is immeasurable. However as these
Machine Learning evolves and as computing power increases, rapidly increasing
usefulness through human society, the automation that it result in, will lead to a
future where human labor is no longer required . It is estimated that in 2 decades,
45% of jobs might be taken over by machines. Thus, as we move to a more
intelligent age, there is a need to analyze the future of the integration
of automation into economics, as well as the impact of this integration to the
worldwide workforce.

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4

2.0 Current Applications .............................................................................................................................. 5

2.1 Social Media ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Recommendation Engines .................................................................................................................. 5
2.3 Financial Services ................................................................................................................................ 5
2.4 Health Care.......................................................................................................................................... 6
2.5 Marketing and Sales ............................................................................................................................ 6
2.6 Transportation .................................................................................................................................... 6

3.0 Future of Machine Learning ................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Reporters............................................................................................................................................. 7
3.1 Chauffeurs ........................................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Pharmacists ......................................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Research Studies ................................................................................................................................. 8
3.1 Rescuers .............................................................................................................................................. 8

4.0 Technological Unemployment ............................................................................................................... 9

4.1 Possible Solutions................................................................................................................................ 9

5.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 11

6.0 References ............................................................................................................................................ 11

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1.0. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to provide a brief insight of Machine Learning and its
impact on our daily lives, covering its widespread applications. The report also
highlights the future of automation, and how it will be affecting the society and
economy in general. In 1959, Arthur Samuel defined machine learning as a "Field
of study that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly
programmed". More generally, machine learning algorithms operate by building a
model from example inputs, which in turn makes data-driven predictions or
decisions. They learn from previous computations to produce reliable, repeatable
decisions and results. While many machine learning algorithms have been around
for a long time, the ability to automatically apply complex mathematical
calculations to big data is a recent development, making its applications prevalent
all around us. The report is divided into 3 sections, focusing on the current
applications, the future, and the technological unemployment it may bring about.

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2.0. Current Applications

ML and AI have spread their wings over all kinds of industries in the past few
years, ranging from social media to even the oil and gas sector. While some
applications like search engines, virtual assistants etc. surround us everywhere,
there are others that don’t influence us directly but still have a prominent effect
on our lives.

2.1. Social Media

ML algorithms allow for the optimization of a user’s feed, showing and prioritizing
news that is relevant to the user. Also using the user’s reactions, the social media
sites figure out the likes and dislikes of the user which is used for selective
advertising.

2.2. Recommendation Engines

Most of the consumer based companies are
now using ML and AI algorithms to make use
of the consumer’s past record, to understand
the consumer and predict what the consumer
will like. This is good for the both the
consumer and producer , making the sales
grow as well as suggesting the consumer the appropriate products.

2.3. Financial services

Banks and other businesses in the financial industry use ML to identify important
insights in data, and prevent fraud. The insights can identify investment
opportunities, or help investors know when to trade, just making trading easier
and more profitable. Data mining can also identify clients with high-risk profiles.

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 2.4. Health care
With the advent of wearable devices and sensors that can use data to assess a
patient's health in real time, ML technology can used to predict and diagnose a
disease efficiently. The technology can also help medical experts analyze data to
identify trends or red flags that may lead to improved diagnoses and treatment.

2.5. Marketing and sales

Advertisements on websites are now based on your previous purchases. These
websites analyze your buying history and recommend items you’d be interested
in. This ability to capture data, analyze it and use it to personalize a shopping
experience or implement a selective marketing campaign is how ML can play a
part in the future of retail.

2.6. Transportation
Transportation industry relies on making routes more efficient and predicting
potential problems to increase profitability. Thus, analyzing data to identify
patterns and trends and hence optimizing routes can make ML the key in
transportation industry.

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3.0. Future of Machine Learning

The following section highlights how the future of AI and ML, focusing on how
these are replacing human labor in various fields.

3.1. Reporters
Today ML algorithms are already writing data-based stories in some newsrooms.
Algorithm, developed by Chicago, Illinois–based Narrative Science, now churns
out corporate earnings reports for Forbes, and the Los Angeles Times employs
similar technology to cover earthquakes. A study earlier this year found that
readers could not reliably tell the difference between robot-generated and
human-written sports articles.

3.2. Chauffeurs
Putting a robot instead of flesh and blood
behind the wheel could save hundreds of
thousands of lives a year by eliminating
human error, which accounts for 95% of
automobile accidents. Companies like
Google, Tesla, NVidia, Apple are funding
and building fully autonomous cars with
Tesla even expecting its cars to be road-
ready by early next year. A study conducted by Stanford estimates that 80% of
cabs will be driverless by the end of the decade

3.3. Pharmacists/ Doctors

Researchers estimate that medication errors by health practitioners or
pharmacists kill 7000 people in the United States alone each year. In 2011, the
University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center introduced a robotic
pharmacy that took over all manual tasks associated with filling prescriptions.
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Computers receive medication orders electronically, then command machines to
assemble and dispense barcoded prescriptions.

3.4. Research studies

At the University of Manchester, a lab bot named Adam used algorithms to
formulate hypotheses and design experiments to identify genes involved in yeast
metabolism, without any human input. At Cornell University, another team
devised a robot that observed the swinging of interconnected pendulums and
deduced their “laws of motion.”

3.5. Rescuers/Firefighters
With robots and AI progressing, tough, strong robots could make ideal first
responders to a disaster. ML has successfully brought about change in how
robots/software can differentiate humans from other things, and hence rescue
missions can be done without risking other humans.

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4.0. Technological Unemployment

Technological Unemployment refers the loss of jobs caused by technological

change. Such change typically includes the introduction of labor-saving machines
or more efficient processes. Historical examples include artisan weavers reduced
to poverty after the introduction of mechanised looms.

In a 2013 report, the University of Oxford’s Oxford Martin School estimated that
47% of U.S. jobs could be taken over by machines in the next decade or two, a
figure which is inclusive of professional, white-collar, and low-skill occupations,
and higher than the 25% unemployment figure of the Great Depression.

There is a high risk that emerging technologies like that of robots, AI and 3D
printing, all being driven by data mining and machine learning, will be leading to
automation without creating any new jobs. There are many reasons to think that
software revolution will be even more profound than agricultural or industrial
revolution, affecting a much larger share of the economy, with more sectors
losing jobs than creating them.

4.1. Possible Solutions

In the coming future, industries will be less labor-intensive, and all countries will
eventually need to rebuild their growth models around digital technologies and
the human capital supporting their deployment and expansion.

Economists have advised a package of measures may be needed. Vigorous

cooperative efforts to address the "myriad devices" - such as tax havens, bank
secrecy, money laundering, and regulatory arbitrage - which enable the holders of
great wealth to avoid paying taxes, and to make it more difficult to accumulate
great fortunes without requiring "great social contributions" in return. They have
also suggested more vigorous enforcement of anti-monopoly laws; reductions in
"excessive" protection for intellectual property; greater encouragement of profit-

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sharing schemes that may benefit workers and give them a stake in wealth
accumulation; strengthening of collective bargaining arrangements;
improvements in corporate governance; strengthening of financial regulation to
eliminate subsidies to financial activity; easing of land-use restrictions that may
cause estates to keep rising in value; better training for young people and
retraining for displaced workers; and increased public and private investment in
infrastructure development, such as energy production and transportation.

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5.0. CONCLUSION

The evolution of ML has shown that the software revolution is closer than we
expect it to be. Soon, ML and AI driven technologies will be controlling our ads,
transport, stocks, pharmacies, music etc, which is just a small indicative how
these technologies will be affecting our lives in the future. While we the
replacement of a human mind with a mechanical one is sign of progress of the
human race, the effect on the economy and the world as a whole will be a drastic
one. Billions of people will be losing their jobs to cleverly designed algorithms
and bots . However, there is still hope. As Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson,
the authors of Race Against The Machine, state "the key to winning the race is
not to compete against machines but to compete with machines.”

6.0. REFERENCES

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_unemployment#cite_ref-
103

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/01/the-rise-of-

robots-humans-need-not-apply-review

The United States Naval Academy ‘ Humans Need Not Apply’ :

https://www.usna.edu/AcResearch/_files/documents/Science_Humans_need_no
t_apply_190.full.pdf

Effects of ML : http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/machine-
learning.html

Humans need not apply : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

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