I’ve been sceptical that artificial intelligence will radically remake labour markets in the short term, in part because so much hype comes from the tech industry itself. But in the last couple of months, I’ve encountered some very diverse use cases for AI that have me thinking differently.

First, a psychiatrist in New York told me how mental health professionals are beginning to use AI to track clients’ word choices across sessions. Word choice can be an important factor in understanding mental illness and making diagnoses. Previously, this was dependent on a therapist’s own memory and perceptions. Now, AI-driven analytics will be, in his words, a “game changer” in terms of how effectively patients can be diagnosed and treated.   

Second, an investor told me about a company in the US, Axon, that is leveraging AI and proximity data. One product, called Draft One, allows police in places such as Lafayette, Indiana to download body-camera images, then push a few buttons to create a first draft of the “incident reports” that currently take up roughly 40 per cent of their time. While other attempts at high-tech policing have come with unforeseen challenges (such as algo-racism), markets are keen. Axon’s stock is up 730 per cent over five years.