Artificial Intelligence is the most recent technology buzz topic because of the boom of ChatGPT. The AI-powered chatbot, created by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has each impressed and shocked with its ability to reply questions, write essays and even argue legal cases.
Its capabilities have also put one other topic on the forefront of individuals’s minds: if, how and when artificial intelligence might impact their jobs and careers. And while concerns about AI-based technology taking up people’s jobs have spiraled, experts say it isn’t quite that easy.
Replacing or creating jobs?
The short answer to the query of whether AI will replace some jobs is an enormous, fat “yes.”
Developments in artificial intelligence mean that technology can achieve increasingly more, and that can, in fact, impact jobs, Steven Miller, professor emeritus of knowledge systems at Singapore Management University, says.
“As physical machines, software systems, and combos of hardware and software get more capable because of this of AI-enablement, it’s increasingly possible in addition to economically viable to exchange a greater share of the portions of the human work of today with machines,” he told CNBC Make It.
Certain roles are more vulnerable to this than others, Miller adds — especially ones which might be highly repetitive or based on very specific instructions or rules that lay out what must be done.
On the flipside, tasks that change often and subsequently require things like adaptability and adaptability are harder for technology to exchange.
Jobs with a robust human element — equivalent to being a therapist — are especially unlikely to be taken over by technology, in keeping with Dimitris Papanikloaou, a professor of finance on the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “Jobs that emphasize interpersonal skills are much harder to get replaced by an AI,” he says.
Recent jobs on the horizon?
The concerns aren’t surprising, says Steve Chase, consulting leader at KPMG U.S. “As with most technological advancements, an initial fear of job loss and displacement amongst employees is natural.”
Nevertheless, it’s crucial to maintain several points in mind, he adds. First off, similar disruption has happened before: for instance, the spread of computers, or more advanced and specialized machines in factories.
These modified the way in which people work and what style of work they do — and so they did make some jobs redundant — but today, we won’t imagine life without them.
This can be a centuries-old process, Miller says, adding that history shows if jobs are lost to recent technology, other roles have been created of their place.
“The creation of recent jobs resulting from the power to create and deliver of recent forms of goods and services … have far outpaced the variety of jobs displaced,” he explains.
Working with AI, not against it
AI and the technology and products based on it are also still limited in certain ways, Papanikloaou points out.
“I feel in the mean time we’re quite removed from ‘real AI’ within the sense that each one the models that we now have are about predicting the precise response given a set of information. Much of what AI does is to synthesize existing knowledge with a selected goal in mind,” he says. “This is kind of removed from creating recent knowledge.”
People working alongside artificial intelligence, slightly than being replaced by it, is subsequently a more likely scenario for now, he says. “There are much more opportunities for using AI for augmenting the work of human employees than for fully automating the work of humans.”
Chase agrees, explaining that many businesses are using AI to reinforce efficiency or otherwise support employees.
“Leaders are embracing AI to drive material efficiencies for his or her business and help employees do their jobs more effectively,” he says. “Leveraging AI allows organizations to reconfigure roles in a way that minimizes time spent on repetitive tasks and maximizes strategic decision making.”
To do that successfully, businesses have to adapt, Chase says. This includes educating employees, helping them to upskill and reskill, and creating frameworks about using the AI technology in a responsible way. He said that some corporations have already begun doing this.
So whilst AI algorithms and the technology based on them may not be about to exchange people’s jobs, they are going to likely turn out to be a much bigger a part of on a regular basis working life — potentially sooner slightly than later.