The past year has seen dramatic strides in AI development and huge shifts in public perceptions of the technology. Chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and LLMs like GPT-4 have demonstrated remarkable abilities to communicate fluently and perform at or near the highest level on a broad range of cognitive assessments. Companies that are integral to the AI ecosystem (like Nvidia) have seen their market caps soar. Talk of an AI arms race among tech giants like Google and Microsoft is ubiquitous.
Despite all the excitement surrounding AI, there has been no shortage of consternation — from concerns about job displacement, the spread of disinformation, and AI-powered cyberattacks all the way to fears of existential risk. Although it’s essential to test and deploy AI responsibly, it’s unlikely that we will see significant regulatory changes within the next year (which will widen the gap between leaders and followers in the field). Large, data-rich AI leaders will likely see massive benefits while competitors that fall behind on the technology — or companies that provide products and services that are under threat from AI — are at risk of losing substantial value.
There will be winners and losers in the AI race, but AI pessimists are discounting the creativity and productivity that the technology will unleash. Yes, job losses are inevitable, but so are job gains. The most successful companies won’t fight the tide of change — they will figure out how to take part in one of the greatest technological revolutions we have ever witnessed. Innovation will counteract dislocation.
There’s no doubt that AI will replace many roles that exist today — data entry clerks, content creators, paralegals, customer service agents and millions of other workers may discover that their careers are about to take an unexpected turn. Accenture expects 40% of all working hours to be affected by LLMs alone, as “language tasks account for 62% of the total time employees work.” The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report projects that the proportion of tasks done by machines will jump from 34% to 43% by 2027.
Managing Risk
That said, it’s always wise to bet on human creativity and resilience. As some roles become redundant, there will be increased demand for AI auditors and ethicists, prompt engineers, information security analysts, and so on. There will also be surging demand for educational resources focused on AI. PwC reports that a remarkable 74% of workers say they’re “ready to learn a new skill or completely retrain to keep themselves employable” — an encouraging sign that employees recognize the importance of adapting to new technological and economic realities.
Managing AI risk will be a core priority. On top of the economic shocks that will be caused by AI, the technology poses many other dangers that companies and consumers will need to account for in their decision-making.
Sources:
“How AI is fundamentally altering the business landscape” from VentureBeat
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