AI Is Unlikely To Take Jobs - But People Who Know How To Use It Will Do So

AI is unlikely to disrupt the economy by taking hundreds of thousands of jobs - but people who are not learning how to use it may be at risk of losing their jobs to those who do.

Those are the findings of recent surveys which reveal that organizations are increasingly finding ways of implementing AI and generative AI. The result is that they need employees or new hires who can do so. As many as half of employers across sectors are training and upskilling current staff or hiring new employees to meet those needs. Those who fail or refuse to learn are at risk. JL  

Britney Nguyen reports in Quartz:

While some fear AI could replace workers, workers shouldn’t worry about the new tools replacing them - they should worry about the people who know how to use them. Half of C-suite level executives surveyed said their companies are currently training and upskilling workers to prepare for integrating AI into the workplace, acquiring other companies already using AI tools, and hiring for roles focused on AI. Workers need basic AI literacy - such as understanding large language models, which power chatbots. And they need to know what AI tools are available to their industry that can enhance productivity and effectiveness. "Upskilling is no longer a choice."

AI is inevitably seeping into the workplace. And while some fear the technology could replace workers, an AI industry leader says workers shouldn’t worry about the new tools replacing them — they should worry about the people who know how to use them.

Almost half of C-suite level executives surveyed by Deloitte said their companies are currently training and upskilling workers to prepare for integrating AI into the workplace, acquiring other companies already using AI tools, and hiring for roles focused on AI. Forty percent of executives in the new survey released Tuesday said they are preparing to do the same.

 

“No matter what your job is today, AI will be a tool that you use,” Beena Ammanath, the U.S. Technology Trust Ethics leader at Deloitte, said in an interview. “AI is going to impact and tweak every role, every job. I don’t think it’s AI that’s going to take away your job. It’s the people who know AI and how to use AI effectively that’s going to take away your job.”

Read more: The biggest AI chatbot blunders (so far)

Ammanath said workers need to have basic AI literacy — such as understanding different terms like large language models, or LLMs, which power chatbots like ChatGPT. And she said workers need to know what AI tools are available to their industry that can enhance productivity and effectiveness.

 

“I think upskilling is no longer a choice,” Ammanath said. “Everybody has to fundamentally understand the basics of AI and how AI can help them do their job better.”

As companies integrate AI into the workplace, their focus will also on ethical and responsible AI use, Deloitte’s survey found. Of the executives surveyed, 86% said their organization is preparing to or has already implemented policies around ethical AI use. And more than 50% of surveyed leaders said focusing on ethical AI use is important to revenue, while 47% cited brand reputation and marketplace trust as reasons. Executives are focused on revenue, Ammanath said, because AI mishaps around fairness and bias could impact a company’s bottom line and its trust with customers.