It is all the rage. Artificial Intelligence is the buzzword of 2024. I have written a great deal about it. See AI is a Tool (October 2023), and the links there. As I hear AI discussed, I cannot help but think of The Grinch that Stole Christmas (Universal Pictures 2000)(MGM Television 1966). Well, no, I am not suggesting someone is going to steal your "who pudding." But stick with me here, the analogy carries pretty well.
No, the Grinch was fearful of what he did not understand. He suffered anxiety and uncertainty. He concluded of Christmas:
"I must stop this whole thing! Why for fifty-three years I've put up with it now!I must stop Christmas from coming! But how?"
The Grinch invested significantly in his grandiose plot. It was involved, ingenious, and fatally flawed. He "slithered, and slunk" and labored through the night. The Grinch stole all the presents and the Christmas feast. He hauled it up the mountain and reveled in his success. Yet, he failed. From "ten thousand feet up, up the side of Mount Crumpet," he heard "a sound rising over the snow. It started in low, then it started to grow."
You all remember the plot. That sound was the many Who's singing. The Grinch is disappointed (or worse). He realizes "He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same!" He struggled to comprehend as he realized "It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"
And finally, "the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before."
Yes, Virginia, there is AI, and it is coming. You may steal the day (or night) and you may deny it if you wish, but AI is coming, inevitably(ish)(not much rhymes well with "wish").
Oh, and it will mean change. We hate change. See Departures and Progress (December 2023) and the posts linked there. Change is inevitable, inexorable, and irresistable. Like it, hate it, or ignore it, it will come whether you steal the packages or not.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief says that great disruption is coming from AI, according to CNN Business. She fears that the impact will be significant and disproportionately on the less fortunate. In good socialist-speak, she urges "Government to establish social safety nets and offer retraining programs to counter the impact of AI." Is the government always the answer?
She was speaking from Davos, Switzerland, where all the cool kids are this week. They hopped into their private jets and headed to the picturesque and trendy ski resort of the rich and famous. There, they will discuss how the rest of us "proles" should live our lives. 1984, George Orwell. As an actual "carbon neutral" and there are not that many of us, I always enjoy seeing the rich and famous jet-setting around the planet.
The Chief is not all doom and gloom. She notes that AI will "help . . . the human workforce" in some regards, but will "hurt" them in others. The result will be greater efficiency and effectiveness for many of us and as a result, less demand for humans to help and support our efforts. She predicts that in the broadest analysis "40% of jobs around the world could be affected." But in "more developed economies . . . as much as 60% of jobs could be impacted." (Uh, that "developed" is us here in America folks. I'm just sayin).
While some may see threat or solace in these, depending on perspective, the fact is that both numbers illustrate significant pervasiveness. The threat is real, the threat is now, we must embrace it, how, how, how? (loosely adapted from Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now - Theodor Geisel, 1972).
The IMF chief sees a decreasing demand for human labor and a resulting downward pressure on wages. Well, not in America you say? We do not believe in supply and demand here (wages cannot decrease below the central-committee-mandated minimum wage, even if that means job loss. See the great debate and layoffs in the People's Paradise of California on the World Socialist Web Site ("Corporations retaliate"). OK, so perhaps the minimum wage is not a panacea? Maybe wages don't decrease, but the supply of jobs does? Or maybe the central committee steps in and makes businesses each hire at least "x" employees they don't need? The extras could stand around the work site and lean on shovels. That sounds familiar somehow.
The CNN article notes that businesses are already "rethinking staffing levels." AI is becoming "more mainstream." The change is here, and you cannot stop it any more than the Grinch stopped Christmas.
I am interested in and intrigued by AI. This month, The Point will address "AI, Workers’ Comp, And Your Future." We are going to get the down-low and nitty gritty from Jackie Jackson, the Manager of Business Operations at the Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation, and Jeff Snider, the General Manager of P&C at Gradient AI. Our host, Bob Wilson, is a tech-savvy innovator in the workers' compensation community, and I have a lot of questions about AI, and where it will impact workers' compensation.
The Point is free, part of the efforts of WorkCompCollege.com, and it is at 1:00PM Eastern, Wednesday, January 24, 2024. You can register here: https://workcompcollege.com/the-point-webinar-ai-workers-comp-and-your-future/. Did I mention it is free?
I am also proud to have been invited to speak on an amazing panel at the 2024 Workers' Compensation Institute in Orlando. On August 19, 2024, from 1:15-3:30 (that is a long panel). I will join an amazing brain trust to discuss how AI is "revolutionizing the MedicoLegal Field." This panel includes luminaries of workers' compensation. I will write more about this amazing group one day, but it includes (spoiler alert), Christopher Brigham, MD who has already deployed AI in his practice, and Negar Matian, JD who has significantly leveraged technology in "innovative approaches" to practicing law. I intend to learn a great deal from these two and the entire panel.
Is AI in your future? Is it a big distraction, a "flash in the pan?" Is it a threat? Is it a revolution? Is it good for you? Will it destroy us all? Sorry, I am re-watching Terminator (Orion Pictures, 1984) as I write this. If you are not thinking about it, you should be. If you are not questioning your future involvement and interaction with it, you should be. If you are the least bit interested in the future, you should join me for one or both of these upcoming opportunities.
Or, you may stand on Mt. Crumpet (figuratively or actually) and cackle with joy as you imagine you have defeated it, avoided it, or kept it from coming. Take it from me, you haven't.
