Guest blog: AI is changing the world yet concerns among the future workforce remain
Data centres are the backbone of the digital economy, positioning them at the heart of delivering artificial intelligence (AI) to businesses and communities. In the past few years, AI has already begun transforming society, reshaping the way we work and live. Despite its benefits, it also poses many challenges affecting all sectors that use this sophisticated technology.
To find out how the workforce of the future perceives AI’s impact, we opened our doors to 60 UK students aged 16- and 17-year-olds to join us in one of our data centres for an educational tour. The session was part of our partnership with HireHigher's Rising Star programme, which supports people in their early careers across the data centre industry.
The students were given the opportunity to learn more about AI and the cloud, the importance of data centres in everyday life, and the rewarding career opportunities that exist within our industry. As part of this, we asked them to share their perceptions of AI and how they see the technology influencing the way we live and work.
The students demonstrated a brilliant grasp of the different ways AI is helping to transform different sectors and the opportunities it provides, but they also voiced some common concerns shared by the broader public.
When it comes to education, the students highlighted the exciting possibilities AI offers including how the technology has made it easier and more efficient for them to access informative resources to enhance their learning. They also noted, however, that Large Language Models (LLM), like ChatGPT, are known to have embedded bias due to the various data sources they analyse. With this in mind, the students voiced their concerns on inaccuracies and the possibility that stereotypes might affect their learning. While several studies have confirmed the presence of bias in LLMs, AI engineers are constantly working on adapting the models to a present approach.
Healthcare is another key sector that is seeing AI innovation deliver value for practitioners and patients. The students recognised how new AI solutions have streamlined manual, time-consuming tasks which provided healthcare workers with more time to focus on urgent cases instead. The students also mentioned how technology has revolutionised diagnoses by accurately identifying issues at an early stage and, as a result, saving many lives. But along with these benefits, the students pointed out the potential privacy and security flaws that come along with the use of AI, as digitising health records puts them at greater risk of a breach happening, whether unintentionally or because of a cyberattack.
AI can provide a wide range of opportunities that were not previously possible. It enhances our learning and improves the way we work and live. But as our session with the students showed, concerns about AI persist. It is crucial for educators and policy makers to address these issues thoroughly. This will result in a better understanding of AI’s full potential and inspire more people to pursue careers in technology.
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