“AI
does not flourish without the help of the programmer and architects behind the
scene,”
Technology Minister Dr
Andrew Wheatley speaking at the symposium organised by the Jamaica Computer
Society held on Friday June 9th 2017
The
symposium organized by the Jamaica Computer Society at the regional
headquarters of the University of the West Indies may have some people working
in the BPO Industry on edge!!
This
as it was revealed at
the symposium organised by the Jamaica Computer Society held on Friday June 9th
2017 that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a threat to those people employed
in the BPO sector as argued in “Artificial
Intelligence Posing A Threat To BPO Jobs – Wheatley”, published Friday June
23, 2017, The Jamaica Gleaner.
So
important was this event that the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology
@MSETGovJM
tweeted the event as it happened:
Jamaica Computer Society Symposium - The Future of IT (June 9, 2017)https://t.co/jcCM9t7Ld4 pic.twitter.com/3DoLPBX5d8— Ministry of S.E.T. (@MSETGovJM) June 9, 2017
Technology
Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley admitted as much, as AI systems such as the IVR
(Interactive Voice Response), or “Ivy” as employees at FLOW's Call Center
fondly refer to their Voice activated system that assist with customer queries.
Already
FLOW Customer Care handle 911 and other Emergency queries as predicted in my blog article
entitled “How
OUR can fund FLOW Jamaica Emergency operator service using Stay Alert App,
Mobile Money and Advertising”.
This
system isn't artificially intelligent, but rather is a knowledge database that
takes input from your phone keypad and provides the appropriate output either
in voice or via a text to the customer with the information requested.
Potentially AI, the modern day version of Automation, can potentially take away
50% of all jobs in Jamaica, starting with Customer Service Representatives!
But
what if in the future it could be made to respond to voice conversations, even
answering the customer in a unique voice?
AI and BPO - 200,000
jobs at risk in 2021
In Jamaica the
BPO sector employs some 22,000 people, with the GOJ (Government of
Jamaica) aiming to reach 200,000 by 2021.
The
BPO sector has the highest potential for generating job opportunities for those
high school leavers. Call Centers are also a reality for University Graduates
who are unemployed, albeit you have an advantage if you speak another language
such as Spanish as noted in my MICO
Wars blog article entitled “PM
Andrew Holness says Spanish is Jamaica’s Second Language as UWI makes it
compulsory”.
In
other countries, AI-based systems are becoming an attractive option to replace
humans in repetitive, boring or sometimes even dangerous jobs. There are AI
systems that can answer calls and solve certain problem-solving functions, but
they are not yet human enough in their interactions with people to replace a human CSA's.
So
what is the solution?
Dr Wheatley and
Computer Programmers - train Jamaican people as programmers and software
developers
These
AI systems are getting better as Dr Wheatley, Minister of Science, Energy and Technology
admitted at the symposium organised by the Jamaica Computer Society. still he did stick to being passive and optimistic
in his approach as noted in “Gov’t Set
Sights on Artificial Intelligence”, published June 23, 2017 By Douglas
McIntosh, The Jamaica Information Service.
He
pointed out that presented an opportunity to train Jamaican people as
programmers and software developers as I've long suggested in my MICO Wars blog article entitled
“Why
Coding in HTML and CSS3 and speaking Spanish needed in Jamaica”.
I'd
even go as far as to suggest Land and attractive housing to talented
programmers as West Rural St Andrew Member of Parliament Paul Buchanan had
suggested in June 2015 as noted in my blog article
entitled “Computer
Programming the Future of Jamaica – How Paul Buchanan plans to jump start the
ICT Revolution”.
The
demand for coders is especially strong in:
1. Germany
2. Japan
3. China
4. United
Kingdom
More
reason to learn a foreign language in the future as most of the coding jobs are
in non-English speaking countries as I've pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “How
Jamaicans can make money from Coding and Foreign Languages”.
Minister
Wheatley is correct; Jamaica needs to become producers of solutions rather than
being consumers. Learning a foreign language at Grade 9 is a start as I've
pointed out in my MICO Wars
blog article entitled “Ministry
of Education to make Foreign Languages compulsory up to Grade 9 by 2017”.
As
such, Dr. Wheatley plans to re-tool computer science graduates for high level
BPO jobs involving programming and software developement, quote: “We must,
therefore, look to increase the number of computer science graduates from our
tertiary institutions, so that we can take advantage of the clear opportunities
that will come from the new demand for highly skilled programmers”.
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