By Pravin Periasamy

Seventeenth century English poet William Blake, in the poem ‘London’ – considered to be one of his greatest works – when describing the people of London in the city, lamented that in every face, he “had met”, he found that it revealed “weakness” and “marks of woe”.

Blake penned these thoughts to paper at a time when England was beginning its transition to the industrial revolution – a rather tumultuous time for the country. While the industrial revolution paved the way for modernisation which led to the country’s dramatic economic advances and uplifted many out of poverty as it resulted in the creation of new jobs, it simultaneously displaced many out of work. The mechanisation of labour and the rise of the machine would prove to be a challenging time for the country as it rendered the relevance of many worker skills obsolete, leaving them susceptible to industrial substitution – resulting in unemployment.

We ought to value the invaluable efforts of the country’s extraordinary workforce to its economic development and growth, and it is incumbent on the government to thoroughly study the future difficulties that may be incurred for labourers and professionals alike, as Malaysia edges closer towards the revolutionary age of digitalisation and automation, to preserve their welfare interests and to avoid mass levels of unemployment.

Recently, Bill Gates, in an article he wrote – when noting the unprecedented rise of artificial intelligence in services across the globe – had remarked that the “age of AI had begun”.

Modern existential crisis

This comes at a time in which the significant influence of AI technology such as ChatGPT on various economic sectors – an AI language mode – is sparking a modern existential crisis in the international community as speculation about the potential of AI to displace many in the workforce and consequently threaten job security in the future has caused them great concern.

The dawn of AI appears to parallel the disruptive nature of the industrial revolution and like it is set on challenging the relationship dynamic between human labourers and the economy bringing about feelings of woe in the workforce.

The increased efficiencies and effectiveness of artificial intelligence and digital automation is seen to be more favourable by employers as it is significantly more cost-effective given that the economic value and utility that the technology in question singularly provides is capable of competitively matching the combined vigour and skill of multiple workers simultaneously, diluting the necessity of those very skillsets in the workforce.

A report by McKinsey Malaysia reinforced this, uncovering that “50 per cent of work time in Malaysia is spent on repetitive activities that are highly automatable”.

For the purposes of maintaining constancy of productivity, businesses would be more inclined to adopt such automating technologies. It is precisely through this that the nation would see increased levels of displacement as the integration of these technologies into the ecosystem exponentially increases, which then exacerbates unemployment.

Risk of jobs being automated

In the Malaysian context, a study conducted by the Faculty of Economics and Administration in Universiti Malaya found that “40.1 per cent of Malaysian jobs are at high risk of being automated with approximately 57 per cent of all jobs being affected by automation in the next two decades”.

While it is important for Malaysia, as a developing economy, to incorporate emerging technologies – the country’s leadership must also be cognisant of implications of doing so.

According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, “the country aspires to be a digitally driven, high-income nation and a regional leader in the digital economy”.

What must be studied by the Malaysian government are the country’s contingency plans to holistically and proactively implement measures that can facilitate these digital aspirations while protecting its workforce from the encroachments of technological innovation and job displacement – a win-win solution.

The workforce, particularly low-skilled workers from financially challenged communities, who will come to suffer from the implications of future job displacement are already themselves experiencing the challenge of persevering through a cost-of-living crisis.

‘Universal basic income’

One such measure the government could provide in support of these communities is what economists describe as a “universal basic income” as a form of labour protection. The idea is that those eligible for it would receive a guaranteed monthly cash transfer in order to meet minimum living costs.

Prof Geoffrey Williams, an economics professor at Malaysia’s University of Science and Technology, has stated how instrumental such a measure would be in making the “cost of living more affordable” and that it was “financially viable”.

Crucially, this policy would offset the most severe consequences of job displacement by affording workers with social assistance. The consequence of a significant portion of workforce falling into poverty due to automation would only exacerbate wealth inequality and cause stagnation in the government’s effort in economically empower Malaysians. This demonstrates the future necessity of such a policy.

A sustainable vision for universal basic income policies in the future would be one that would ensure that the workforce is sufficiently financially supported that they would be able to develop relevant skills in the meantime for the purpose of employment – it is a means to an end.

What it means to stabilise the disruptions of automation is to keep labourers financially afloat in order that they may be able to sustain themselves and incentivise their consistent participation in the economy so as to maintain their relevance.

Right financial plans and institutions

While Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has unequivocally regarded it as difficult to realise given the current financial situation in the country, as Malaysia transitions into the digital revolution and benefits from substantive economic growth. The government could envision a way in which the right financial plans and institutions are effectuated that may be deployed at critical levels of job displacement as a result of AI automation in the future. Malaysia must consistently dedicate itself towards the preservation of its workforce given the ethical quandaries that surround around rapid development through AI automation and transformation.

There sits also a worrying philosophical dilemma at the heart of the future of AI automation, in a world where the need for human skills is rendered obsolete – there ought to be a discussion as to what the trajectory of civilisation ought to be.

What sort of a world should we aim to build if human capital is no longer the instrument of development, and is instead under the purview of technological automatons? How should we best address this redesigning the function and capacities of human capital? What should the ideal relationship between humans and artificial intelligence look like?

These existential questions point to the fact that there might be a world in which civilisation is no longer predicated upon the contributions of man, but machine. If this is in fact the case, we ought to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure continued human flourishing to ensure there is still very much a protected and entrenched place for mankind.

-- BERNAMA

Pravin Periasamy is the Networking and Partnerships Director at Malaysian Philosophy Society.