The AI revolution is already here. According to Rotman professors Avi Goldfarb, Ajay Agrawal and Joshua Gans, who co-authored the hit business book Prediction Machines, AI is transforming the world around us. Consider innovations like facial recognition, when you type a word into your smart phone and the sentence completes itself.

Machine learning creates intelligence by finding patterns in data, improving our predictive power. Because it massively decreases the cost of prediction — and has wide application to most aspects of our lives — AI is already having a major impact on the world around us. 

Just as the steam engine replaced the horse and carriage, AI will replace those whose work depends on their cognitive labour. In other words, many jobs currently involving human-driven prediction will decline in demand. At the same time, work that complements automated prediction, and requires complicated — and very human skills — like initiative, judgment and leadership, will be more needed than ever. So far, at least, machines can't handle such responsibilities. 

For business, it's possible that the great AI disruption will bring more opportunities than losses. While machines can dramatically cut down on human error, for the prediction machines to do their best work, someone needs to ask the right questions and apply judgment. So for now, we humans are safe from being made redundant — if we get ready for this new world of smart machines.