AI's messy march: Jobs, art and the human touch
The Blueprint | No. 03.2025
Welcome to The Blueprint, our monthly roundup of science and technology. Written and edited by Dr Mann Virdee.
Thoughts from your correspondent on recent developments in science and tech in the United Kingdom (UK)
Several artificial intelligence (AI) trends have been doing the rounds recently.
There’s the Studio Ghibli trend, in which people are using generative AI to create photos in the style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (known for films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro). There’s also the AI doll trend, in which people are creating images of themselves as packaged dolls and action figures.
This has sparked a debate about AI trained on copyrighted creative works and what it means for the livelihoods of artists. In 2016, in response to the use of AI in animation, Miyazaki was quoted as saying: ‘I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself’.
It’s also part of a broader conversation about automation and jobs. The Tony Blair Institute estimates that adoption of AI by UK firms could save almost a quarter of private-sector workforce time, equivalent to the annual output of about six million workers. A recent report from KPMG found that generative AI could potentially add £31 billion to the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next decade, with some 40% of jobs being impacted by AI.
So, why hasn’t AI taken your job yet? Bill Gates has predicted that AI will lead us to a two-day work week; is that simply a dream?
AI is currently very good at tasks that are repetitive, predictable and have lots of structured data. But it’s now getting better at tasks which – until recently – we thought only humans could do, such as analysing information and being creative (have you ever tried asking one of the leading large language models to generate a new script for your favourite TV show?).
This means that, increasingly, higher-skilled white-collar jobs are at risk too.
There are still things AI can’t do well. Jobs that require emotional intelligence, complex negotiations with people, making ethical judgements, using common sense in unexpected situations and skilful physical work in unpredictable environments are still safe for humans for now. ‘Human-centric’ skills are key.
Recent research conducted by Model Evaluation & Threat Research (METR), a United States (US)-based AI research company, suggests that the capability of large language models to carry out a particular task is determined less by its apparent intellectual difficulty for humans or the specialist skills required, and instead more by the degree of structure (or messiness) within the workflow.
To put it another way, the inherent unpredictability and responsiveness required when working with people contribute to a messiness that makes those jobs less straightforward to automate.
Looking ahead, AI is getting better at handling longer and more complicated tasks, even messy, unstructured ones. We are going to need to do a lot more thinking about the training and support available to help people switch careers.
This leaves me with a final thought by the writer Gurwinder Bhogal. If AI can write (and perhaps write even better than you or I can), then why write? Gurwinder says: ‘Write, even though machines can write for you, because the purpose of writing is not just to produce writing, but to distil your thoughts, refine your beliefs and maintain your agency’.
Technological innovations, developments and stories you might have missed
UK creating ‘murder prediction’ tool to identify people most likely to kill
His Majesty’s (HM) Government is researching a ‘murder prediction’ tool that analyses the personal data of individuals known to authorities to identify potential killers. The research has sparked concerns about privacy, bias against minority ethnic and poor people and the potential use of data from those not convicted of crimes.
In a world first, Stanford neuroscientists have successfully grown a lab-created nervous system – a connected chain of human cell-based organoids representing the entire pain pathway, from skin to brain. This breakthrough represents an unprecedented tool to study pain and how it moves through the body.
China aiming for first hybrid fusion-fission plant by 2030
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is taking a big step in nuclear power by building a first-of-its-kind power plant that combines nuclear fusion and fission. The PRC hopes that this experimental plant will be up and running by 2030, and that it will produce a steady output of 100 megawatts of electricity.
Your reading list on science and technology
Rediscovering British Progress
David Lawrence, Julia Willemyns, Laura Ryan, Ben Johnson
The founding essay of the new Centre for British Progress. The Centre aims for a future in which technological advancements liberate British citizens to pursue lives of security and meaning: where diseases are cured, electricity is clean, cheap and reliable, and where work is creative and meaningful.
Tariffs, saving, and investment
John H. Cochrane
This article argues that the US trade deficit and capital surplus are partly a result of foreign countries wanting to save more and invest in the US, driving up the value of the US dollar and making imports cheaper. Spurred by government policies, the US has engaged in a consumption binge fuelled by cheap foreign borrowing rather than productive investment. Cochrane argues that tariffs are not the solution because cutting off trade would force the US to finance its deficits domestically, likely causing a spike in interest rates, a severe recession and potentially a debt crisis.
Does it really matter if we can’t produce ‘virgin steel’ anymore?
Ed Conway
This article from 2024 is timely. It argues that not being able to make ‘virgin steel’ isn’t a major issue because the UK already relies on imported materials for this, and electric arc furnaces can produce high-quality steel from recycled scrap. There are, however, other reasons to be worried about the UK’s rapid transition solely to electric arc furnace steelmaking, including the UK’s high industrial electricity cost and the lack of investment in decarbonisation technologies. See also this article from The Economist’s Archie Hall.
Revealing quotes
‘Our industries depend on UK steel and – thanks to our Plan for Change – demand is set to shoot up: helping build the 1.5 million homes, railways, schools and hospitals we need to usher in a decade of national renewal.’ – The Rt. Hon. Jonathan Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
Last weekend, Parliament was recalled to pass new legislation giving HM Government the power to direct the board of British Steel and its workforce.
‘A smart foreign-born undergrad at a US university asked me if he should go to the UK to start his startup because of the random deportations here. I said that while the median startup wasn’t taking things to this extreme yet, it would be an advantage in recruiting.’ – Paul Graham, co-founding the startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator.
This quote is a reference to the ongoing fallout from lack of investment in US science and technology, and scientists looking for a ‘plan B’. See also this LinkedIn post from Yann LeCun, Meta’s Vice President and Chief AI Scientist.
‘No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.’ – Alan M. Garber, President of Harvard University.
Harvard University has said it will not acquiesce to the demands of Donald Trump, President of the US, on how the university should be governed, hire and teach whether it continues to get federal funding or not. Harvard’s President acknowledged that some of the demands set out by the government were aimed at combating antisemitism, but said that the majority represented direct governmental regulation of the intellectual conditions at Harvard. In response, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion (£1.7 billion) of federal funds to Harvard.
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