I’m assuming that, as you are reading this, you are fearful of losing your job to AI. And if you’re not, it’s probably just because you’re retired. Much as I like the idea of my readers being a proper cross-section of wider society and including plumbers, hairdressers and mechanics, I suspect that most of you work (or worked) in the UK’s much-vaunted service economy: quite possibly in the City, which is an area looking very susceptible to AI.
Fund management is a case in point. Dumb machines, in the form of passive funds that just track the market, have been beating active human managers for years. Now humans are faced with machines that are actually smart. Yet, according to Felix Martin writing recently on Reuters, human fund managers are safe from the threat of AI. In saying this, Mr Martin is displaying a commendable loyalty towards his own species. It’s a bit like me, as a Tottenham Hotspur fan, confidently maintaining that my team won’t be relegated this season. It’s always good to retain a positive attitude and to stand up for your own kind, even if this sometimes flies in the face of reality.