Professor Niklas Lavesson was interviewed on AI and machine learning for the local Swedish TV.
Read more about what was said below or follow the link to the news feature in Swedish

In the future there may not be a need for neither taxi drivers, bus drivers nor pilots, says professor Niklas Lavesson. The technological development means that the machines’ intelligence can begin to compete with the human intelligence. How we handle this is something that we need to discuss now and it is to some extent a concern, according to Professor Lavesson.

Artificial Intelligence, AI, are machines’ intelligence and it is present around us all the time. Even fast you might not be aware of it.

– If you have a mobile phone today, you have a personal assistant on your phone. For Apple the assistant is named Siri. Users can talk to Siri through the phone and ask her to provide maps, music and solve simple problems, says Niklas Lavesson.

The technology has developed fast and today AI can do so much more, says Niklas Lavesson. Among other things the technology is now so advanced that certain human professions could be replaced by autonomous machines.

– Jobs like taxi drivers, truck drivers and train drivers can be replaced by AI-systems. Human interprets is another example of a profession that can be reduced by rationalization because we already have AI that can translate between for example English and Chinese in real time, says Niklas Lavesson.

– So there is a range of professions and services that AI will be able to tackle in the near future, says professor Niklas Lavesson.

Important to discuss

There are risks with the fast development of AI, and it is important that the issues are brought up and discussed.

– Among other things, the question of how people will react to the fact that humans no longer are the being or entity on earth making the most creative and edified work. Instead robots and machines are doing these jobs, he says.

For the issue to spread and for society to tackle the issue in time it is important that we start talking about this as soon as possible, says Niklas Lavesson.

– I am afraid that many of the critical questions about how AI shall be controlled and be safe will be discussed too late. When there has already been accidents and when AI has had serious consequences in an industry or elsewhere in society. As a technology researcher I worry that society does not take this research seriously enough, he says.