Potential Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Mental Well-Being

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will result in job replacement and job elimination. Some AI technologies, such as self-driving vehicles, have the potential to disrupt existing industries. Self-driving trucks may replace the 3.5 million truck drivers in the US. Scholars at Oxford University estimated that no less than 47% of American jobs and 54% of those in Europe are at a high risk of being taken over by machines. Routine, repetitive, and predictable jobs are expected to be automated (Siau, 2018). Although new jobs will be created, the unemployment rate may go up in the short term and the emergence of a “useless class” (i.e., permanently jobless) (Harari 2016) is a real possibility. PwC predicted that about seven million existing jobs could be displaced by AI from 2017- 2037, but about 7.2 million jobs could be created. Many of these “expected” new jobs, however, are not in existence yet. The impact of AI on human mental well-being is a grave concern to many. Previous studies on joblessness are not related to AI-induced joblessness. This research studies the differences between the impact of joblessness induced by AI versus other reasons. Further, this study would answer three questions. 1) What’s the difference between the impact of temporary joblessness and that of permanent joblessness? 2) How would temporary joblessness induced by AI affect human mental well-being? And 3) How would permanent joblessness induced by AI affect human mental well-being?