Whether we like it or not, the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) has been significantly rising in recent years. From streamlining operations, AI has now taken on more tasks that, at some point, take over the tasks and responsibilities of a human worker. Because of this, some employees fear that companies would employ AI instead of human workers to reduce costs.
This fear is not unfounded. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), 92 million jobs are projected to be displaced by 2030. Specifically, the software development, customer service, and finance industries are hit the hardest by the AI boom. To understand why this happens, WEF illustrates that AI is like a student with access to old exams and study guides, and a human worker is like a student with incomplete notes from a few lectures. During a test, AI would obviously end up performing better than humans.
However, the reality is not as bleak as we might think.
Emergence of New Jobs & Expansion
WEF explains that while old jobs are vanishing, new jobs are emerging as well. However, these are not one-to-one swaps; these new jobs often require a completely different set of skills. Specifically, the launch of generative AI made employers demand jobs that require more analytical, technical, or creative work by 20%. These new roles suggest a human-AI collaboration, rather than AI replacing human workers in the labor market.
Furthermore, AI-related jobs, such as prompt writing or using AI tools, have high potential in the labor market. As workflows transform as they adopt AI technologies to streamline daily operations, a demand for new skills has emerged as well.
Another study argues that companies that utilize AI are actually hiring people, not firing them. These companies invest in AI to generate productivity gains by learning how to integrate the technology. After that, they would expand their workforce by hiring more human workers.
In our previous blog article, we discussed how human users end up discerning the accuracy and truthfulness of AI-generated output. This is because AI is unable to fully grasp context, intent, or credibility, unlike humans. As a result, this impacted AI’s role in the labor market. Data shows that AI is “professionalizing” some jobs by reshaping them to require more human expertise. These professionalized jobs are said to be thriving, with 42% higher wage growth.
Should Humans be Scared of AI Replacing Them?
Here’s the reality: AI is not replacing humans, but there is more value in human-AI collaboration in the industry. While it is true that AI made some jobs obsolete, it also revolutionized the processes within companies and organizations–for better or for worse.
However, there are things AI cannot replace. Which is why, as previously mentioned, the skill set required for jobs is now changing. Companies now need a more analytical, technical, and creative skill set that goes beyond what AI can generate. While AI has the data to generate information and automate repetitive tasks, it cannot replace humans in processing the data and making it valuable for the company.
As mentioned in a Harvard Business School article, human workers do not have to face displacement as long as they develop non-automatable skills, such as judgment and interpersonal communication skills.
However, it is understandable that some companies might take time to adjust to these technological advancements. Not every company can adapt to human-AI collaboration or have the capacity to reskill its current roster of employees. Which is why outsourcing companies with professionals who are already trained and adept at using AI are the solution. This way, companies can integrate AI more effectively. These outsourcing companies, like Ideal Ignite, have trained professionals who are adept with AI-enabled workflows, which allows businesses to benefit from both efficiency and human judgment.