Conference Paper

Artificial Intelligence: An Emerging Productive Force and the Challenges of Unemployment in Nigeria

This paper aims to examine AI as an emerging productive force and its implications on unemployment in Nigeria. We are fast transiting into the Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by Information and Communications Technology (ICT) within the capitalist mode of production. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is machine or ICT intensive instead of labour intensive. Machines will have to do most of the works usually done by humans. Modern technology is fast changing the way production is organized. Human labour will either be reduced or human retrained to adapt to the need of the production process. The net implication is that employers will need to retrain their workers or replace them with entirely new ones that are AI compliant. The research method adopted in this work is the desk research method. The globalization theory of development was adopted as a frame work for analysis. In this paper therefore, we examined AI as an emerging productive force in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We also x-rayed the relationship between AI and unemployment. The finding of the work shows that there is a positive relationship between AI as a productive force and unemployment. The paper therefore concludes that AI and unemployment are inextricable. That with careful planning and collaboration, the adverse effect AI will unleash on unemployment in Nigeria can be mitigated.