AI

AI till date is in the domain of humour and irritation with few taking it seriously. There is some talk about its economic threat but that’s about it. Not much on how it’s going to affect us in the long term and cope with the same.Discussions about ChatGPT and other generative AI is everywhere and till date the only people who are concretely griping are the university teachers. According to them, students are using this AI to write their papers and that is creating academic confusion. Some say that AI-using students may do well in midterms and tutorials, they often fail in the finals. And of course they are not learning enough. And that is where the chances of success later are going to be affected.In Bangladesh, AI is seen as a threat to livelihood like elsewhere. But whether it’s big or small is not stated as little work is being done on its impact. There is a general feeling that the RMG sector will be badly affected leading to high unemployment. In other sectors, mass employment of workers is less visible but regular machine work that is done by workers now, has great possibility of replacement by AIs. Several scholars have said that it’s just not the usual market economics that may affect the workers but lack of any strong lobby or social power group pushing their interest. US historian Peter Turchin says that the decline of the traditional working class interest driven party like the Democrats has contributed to the marginalization of the workers in the US. These left-out workers are now increasingly aligning themselves with politicians like Trump, who is erratic and is unable to have any impact on policies that affect workers.However, the West is not worried about the workers but that the rise of AIs will influence the decline of the middle class elite such as lawyers and doctors and other professionals. Even writers are worried and several of them have sued the AI breeders on copyright and other issues. They also ask if people will prefer AI or Human intelligence and creativity.RMG leaders are aware of the advantages of AI. There is no reason not to and they are looking for advantages in using technological advancement for profit. That is why they are in business anyway. In a 2016 article published a leading English daily, Mostafiz Uddin, Founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) spelt out the business reality. The entire apparel industry of Bangladesh and the nation can move to the next level of prosperity if we rise to the occasion. Let’s not get stuck in the vicious cycle of being a nation known for low-paid, low-skilled work, but rather move up the value chain and provide higher value to the end customers and demand a high pay for a higher level of skills. Let’s work towards re-training our existing workforce for future skills. It’s obvious that the RMG owners are looking forward to an AI revolution and they will welcome it. While they have a lobby none such exists for the workers.The recent minimum wages movement, mayhem and the outcome point to one of the reasons why the owners see a future they prefer in AI. To put it simply, an advanced technology (AT) driven RMG sector is free of labour unrest, management investment in skills and training and capacity to produce quality goods without the hassle. They can’t be blamed for wanting this but what actually happens to the workers?There is no concrete plan anywhere and that is the big challenge. In a structurally inefficient system, nobody plans for the future and hopes for the best. Hundreds and thousands of workers losing their income is a situation few governments can tackle, certainly not ours. No global handout is available as it’s a global problem and the West just may be stepping into a post-worker era as they move towards an unprecedented situation in history.While we speak urgently of the RMG sector, none mentions the migrant workers, 11 million + of them who are not just sending money home but saving billions of dollars by not consuming local goods and services. Their vulnerability lies in the same space as elsewhere. They do the lowest skilled jobs everywhere which are up for termination. When AI hits the global economy in a big way, a migrant workers’ chances of unemployment is the highest as they are not nationals of the country. They are hired hands but one of convenience.Most jobs they do may well go as AIs and robots who will do the same, better and cheaper.Bangladesh doesn’t seem to know and even if it does is aware of the crisis. It hasn’t spoken of a concrete plan to meet a genuine threat of transition. It needs to draw up plans to meet the future. Its slogan of smart Bangladeshis is fine but how its translates into actual action, one is not sure.Like it or not, the world is changing. The pace of work of the government of Bangladesh is at the pre-industrial level which won’t work. It’s all the more reason why the private sector, not just the business sector, gets involved in designing a plan to meet the future.
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