WILL AI Take My Job? Dispatches (Channel 4, Monday of last week) was fascinating, albeit existentially terrifying, viewing. Besides surveying 1000 companies about the current impact of AI on their business models, Dispatches set up a series of experiments, pitting human workers against the power of AI. The sectors that they looked at were general practice, fashion photography, film scoring, and law, and the results were worrying.
For those of us who have always nurtured a sympathy with the grievances of the early-19th-century Luddites, the pro-AI contributor from the Tony Blair Institute (“Write a horror story in three words”) provides no comfort whatsoever. In fact, his bland reassurance that AI would result in a more “productive workforce” was more chilling than the frighteningly realistic deep fakes that the programme created for their experiment.
Unlike previous technological revolutions, which harmed blue-collar industries, the AI revolution is adversely affecting white-collar jobs in the knowledge economies. It is thought that more than eight million jobs are at risk.
Currently, in the creative industries, there is still room for decisions by humans to steer the creative process, working with AI as a collaborator rather than an overlord; but I fear that the overall picture is bleak. In response to a question how to future-proof people’s jobs, a TUC representative said: “We’re going to need to have a good social-security system in place,” which was probably the most frightening comment of all.
After that, a mental-health cleanse was very much needed, and this was provided, perhaps surprisingly, by Alan Partridge, in his new series How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) (BBC 1, all episodes available on iPlayer). This is the former (parody) TV and radio star’s first foray into the realm of mental health, after returning to Britain following a stint working in Saudi Arabia and finding that happiness continues to elude him.
The least self-reflective man in Britain reflects on what it takes to nurture good mental health, exploring dog-ownership, a childlike approach to life, nature, and exercise, all while coping with his unfaithful girlfriend and a cluelessly unchecked ego. He also finds time to muse on the Church: “It’s respectful, of course, to lower your voice in the house of God . . . the same volume one might begin at whilst having a late-night row with your wife in a tent.”
Impossible to watch without cringing at regular intervals, this is also hilarious, a return to fine form for Steve Coogan’s creation, Norwich’s most famous son, for whom it’s hard not to feel grudging affection, despite his many faults. A true tonic for everyone’s mental health.
