THERE'S  A  GROWING  DEBATE  ABOUT  THE  IMPACT  THAT  ARTIFICIAL  INTELLIGENCE 
WILL  HAVE  ON  THE  FUTURE,  WITH  TWO  TECH  LUMINARIES  THEMSELVES--TESLA 
(TSLA)  CEO  ELON  MUSK  AND  FACEBOOK  (FB)  CEO  MARK  ZUCKERBERG--AS 
FIGUREHEADS  REPRESENTING  GLASS-HALF-EMPTY  VS.  HALF-FULL  PERSPECTIVES, 
RESPECTIVELY.LAST WEEK, MUSK COMMENTED THAT AI IS AN "EXISTENTIAL RISK FOR 
HUMAN  CIVILIZATION." WHILE THESE COMMENTS REFER TO 
SWEEPING  IMPACTS,  MANY  ARE  DEBATING  ONE  SPECIFIC  AREA  WHERE  WE  ARE 
ALREADY SEEING THE EFFECTS OF AI: JOBS. AS  HUMANS,  WE'RE  TRAINED  TO  WATCH  FOR  THREATS  TO  OUR  SURVIVAL  AND 
PREDICT TRAGEDIES. JOBS ARE INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO OUR SURVIVAL, AS THEY'RE 
THE WAY MOST OF US EARN INCOME AND ARE THEREFORE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR OUR 
BASIC NEEDS. HOWEVER, MANY ARE PREDICTING THAT WITH THE ADVENT OF AI, WE 
WILL SEE THE RISE OF A "USELESS CLASS"--PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT JUST UNEMPLOYED, 
BUT ARE UNEMPLOYABLE.WE  CAN  LEVERAGE  AI  TO  ENSURE  THAT  OPPORTUNITY  IS  MORE 
EQUALLY  DISTRIBUTED  AROUND  THE  COUNTRY  AND  AROUND  THE  WORLD,  RATHER 
THAN CONCENTRATED IN SMALL POCKETS OF URBAN WEALTH AND OPPORTUNITY.THERE ARE ALREADY SIGNS THAT THIS 
"FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION" WILL INCREASE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND 
OVERALL  PRODUCTIVITY,  JUST  AS  THE  PREVIOUS  THREE  HAVE  DONE,  AND  IT  COULD 
ALSO  INCREASE  THE  FLEXIBILITY  AND  GEOGRAPHIC  DIVERSITY  OF  WORK.ZUCKERBERG  RETORTED  THAT  COMMENTS  LIKE  THIS  ARE 
"PRETTY IRRESPONSIBLE," TO WHICH MUSK TWEETED A RETORT THAT ZUCKERBERG'S 
"UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT IS LIMITED."BUT AI ITSELF IS NOT A THING; IT IS A SERIES OF COMBINED TECHNOLOGIES THAT HUMANS ARE CREATING AND GUIDING THE IMPACTS OF, INCLUDING IMPACTS ON 
WORK.