IBM CEO says AI and automation will create jobs

IoT Drivers

(BI Intelligence)

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At the World Economic Forum in Davos, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty argued that AI and automation will render some professions obsolete, but, in the long run, create jobs, The Wall Street Journal reports.

She made these comments as part of a panel discussing the role AI will play in various spaces moving into the future.

As more jobs and tasks are automated, especially in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, AI will become more crucial to industrial operations, creating a larger need for programmers and developers, which is what Rometty seems to be suggesting.

Rometty appears to be arguing that AI and automation won't be the job killers many fear them to be. While many individuals in attendance at Davos are concerned that these factors could produce a long-term backlash, Rometty seems to disagree. She elaborated that it's the relationship between AI solutions, such as Watson, and human workers that will create new jobs in the long run, and that platforms like Watson can only succeed in adding to what people are able to do, rather than taking over for them entirely.

While Rometty sees reasons to be optimistic in the long term, the growing role of AI and automation is poised to disrupt much of the economy. Workflow automation leads companies to seek out IoT solutions; 52% of IoT users highlighted it as a driver that led their companies to the IoT, according to exclusive results from BI Intelligence’s 2016 Global IoT Executive Survey. According to that same survey, however, only 16% of those companies currently automate their IoT devices. This disruption to result from automation is just beginning, and will fundamentally reshape workplaces and operations across the globe.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is disrupting businesses, governments, and consumers and transforming how they interact with the world. Companies are going to spend almost $5 trillion on the IoT in the next five years — and the proliferation of connected devices and massive increase in data has started an analytical revolution.

To gain insight into this emerging trend, BI Intelligence conducted an exclusive Global IoT Executive Survey on the impact of the IoT on companies around the world. The study included over 500 respondents from a wide array of industries, including manufacturing, technology, and finance, with significant numbers of C-suite and director-level respondents.

Peter Newman, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has conducted an exclusive study with in-depth research into the field and created a detailed report on the IoT that describes the components that make up IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market in terms of device installations and investment through 2021. And we examine the importance of IoT providers, the challenges they face, and what they do with the data they collect. Finally, we take a look at the opportunities, challenges, and barriers related to mass adoption of IoT devices among consumers, governments, and enterprises.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be a total of 22.5 billion IoT devices in 2021, up from 6.6 billion in 2016.

• We forecast there will be $4.8 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2016 and 2021.

• It highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; stages of adoption, deployment, and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices, platforms, and services; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem

• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward and highlights areas of interest in the coming years

• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why

• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies implementing IoT solutions

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