Does artificial intelligence (AI) pose an existential threat to humanity? Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thinks so. So does physicist Stephen Hawking and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk. These and other scientists and tech luminaries have been grabbing headlines recently with dire warnings about the dangers of developing smart technologies we can’t control.
But long before Skynet becomes self-aware and Terminators begin hunting humans, smart software is going to infiltrate the workplace in heretofore unexpected places. A phenomenon author and futurist Martin Ford calls “white collar automation” is already “eroding employment” for such professionals as journalists, scientists, pharmacists, and yes, lawyers.
