Companies across industries are using artificial Intelligence (AI). And that has people thinking about what AI means for the future of many professions. Alphabet (GOOG +1.99%) (GOOGL +1.71%), the parent company of Google, is no stranger to AI. The company uses AI throughout its business -- from optimizing its search capabilities to better serving its advertising customers.
Recently, Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai spoke about how AI is set to revolutionize the working world. He even said one industry in particular might be transformed by the technology. And, surprisingly, Pichai says this may not result in layoffs -- but instead, more jobs.
Pichai's AI prediction
Pichai told The Verge in an interview that AI may make the law profession better in certain ways and may result in more people actually becoming lawyers. Law firms today already use AI to help draft documents, verify contracts, and complete other tasks. The idea is AI won't take away lawyers' jobs. Instead, it will help them and their staff do certain things more quickly -- and give them more time to focus on more complicated parts of the job.
"I'm willing to almost bet 10 years from now, maybe there are more lawyers," Pichai said in the interview.
Pichai said that some of the jitters people have about AI today are a lot like the worries they had years ago with the introduction of new technology like computers or the Internet. Yes, these technologies may have hurt some jobs, but they've also introduced many new ones and resulted in overall progression in the employment market.
Pichai is doing his part to advance the use of AI. He's made it a focus at Alphabet. For instance, the company uses it to help the Google search engine better understand the meaning of each vocal and written search. Another example, this time in the area of advertising: An AI tool predicts how much advertisers should spend to meet their campaign goals.
So, the use of AI isn't necessarily about eliminating jobs. It's about improving how we do them. And this makes AI a great new technology to invest in today. Alphabet itself is a solid AI stock to buy -- and investors will like the company for other reasons too, such as its giant market share in the search market. Google Search holds 92% of that market. And its use of AI may keep that going.
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Investing in AI
You also can invest in AI by buying shares of e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN +0.26%). The company has used AI for years -- that's what helps Amazon recommend products to you that you may like, for example. And last year, Amazon even bought a company called Snackable.AI. Amazon intends to use the company's machine learning tools to boost its streaming and podcast capabilities.
But AI isn't limited to tech companies. You'll find companies in healthcare turning their attention to the area too. Vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA 1.76%) used AI to help it in the development of the coronavirus vaccine -- and is using it to make research and development more efficient. Moderna even recently signed a deal with International Business Machines to use that company's AI platform in the drug development process. And Medtronic is using AI in many ways, such as predicting outcomes in spine surgery.
That means there are plenty of stocks today offering you opportunities for AI investing. So, this technology may transform jobs -- as Pichai says -- and it may also open the door to new investment possibilities.
