Is AI the future of Transnational Corporations?

With increasing technological advancement, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been playing a large role in improving global supply chains for transnational corporations (TNCs) there are drawbacks with its rise but do they outweigh the benefits? And does that matter?

TNCs are businesses that exist in more than one country, operating on such a large basis means there needs to be constant development in the global supply chain, this is where AI comes in. AI, works faster and smarter and removes human error, and manages inventory, effectively making the entire production process cheaper, (indianretailer.com). For these reasons a push in technology based degrees and jobs are being endorsed, highlighting the value of AI, because if there is a technology that can maximise profits and simplify processes, why should it not be encouraged?

This diagram represents Walmarts integration of machine learning and image processing, this helps detect when products are out of stock and bout to expire. This improved efficiency leads to cheaper operating costs for producers which also mean cheaper costs for consumers as it helps them stay competitive in an oligopolistic sector.

With all this being said, there are reasons why AI has not been entirely integrated in developed countries. It requires a lot of highly skilled engineers and security issues also arise as one fault or mistake in the system could bring down the entire chain, (globaltranz.com), similar to the global financial crash in 2008 . But more importantly while lower skilled labourers  are still needed to oversee the AI, there will be a signifant cut in jobs as inequality in income and education means many people, especially in the global south who rely on jobs produced by TNCs will be left unemployed. The only way to stop this is to redesign the education system to adapt to this type of world but again it fails to acknowledge this redesign will prioritie the developed world who aren't the main victims of technological advancement. In the first post, neoliberal IPE perspectives push for globalisation lead to job losses in the pandemic in Bangladesh, but another by product is technological advancement also leading to job losses. Examples of vulnerable careers are seen below.

Regardless of the pros and cons, in history, most chances to automise have been taken and so it seems the coming years will also follow that path. For final thoughts, I recommend the video below as it expresses the final form of deregulated AI advancement leading to a potential dystopian communist society, a theory rather wild but still somewhat probable if history continues.