Left: Unmanned buses in Singapore (Photo: Strait Times)

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat once again urged Malta to start debating the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the way such technologies will make several jobs redundant.

“We’re on the brink of another Industrial Revolution, which will endanger many jobs as we currently know them,” Muscat said at a political event in Naxxar. “Many jobs we currently consider as safe will be changed from the ground up, thanks to technologies that will be able to take decisions in our stead. For example, technological developments in automated vehicles will mean there will be no need for bus drivers in the future. We’re already getting traces of this new future, with technology that allows parents to tell what time our children board buses to go to school and what time they get off.”

Muscat repeated parts of a speech he delivered at yesterday’s annual forum for the Party of European Socialists, in which he urged leftist parties to embrace such technological advancements.

“Progressive politicians cannot adopt the attitude of the Luddites, who had destroyed factory machinery during the last Industrial Revolution out of fear their jobs would be lost,” he said. “How long can we realistically resist this technology for? We must embrace it and try to mould it ourselves, not because we the world to admire us but because we want to protect the most vulnerable in our society.”

Last month, the Maltese government appointed a taskforce to propose a strategy that would turn Malta into a global hub for the regulation of AI technologies.

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]