7/24/24
The Effects of AI on the Job Market: Are We Doomed For the Future?
Author: Aarav Bhamre
Editor(s): David Sun
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the job market, and its effects will become more pronounced in the future. AI-powered automation is already eliminating many jobs, and this is expected to continue in the future. However, AI is also creating new opportunities in the job market where users will have to work alongside it. AI may lead to the demise of the current job market, but understanding the effects of it now will help us control the use of AI in the job market.
As of now, AI assists many jobs with their work. Having a balance between AI and human work can be seen in many job profiles, especially in ones that require writing capabilities. MIT PhD students Shakked Noy and Whitney Zhang studied 450 professionals in high-level professional writing jobs, including crafting press releases, reports, etc. They found that workers who used ChatGPT decreased their time spent by 40 percent and increased quality by 18 percent. These findings show a clear impact of AI on work efficiency. It also shows how AI can boost the quality of the work since humans make mistakes while AI will often have little to no errors while being used. Even if the AI has errors, the human employee who entered a prompt can double-check to ensure the response is appropriate.
On the other hand, AI has been causing problems for employees that have easily replaceable jobs. For the first time, global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm "Challenger, Gray & Christmas" added “artificial intelligence” to its list of reasons for US job cuts; nearly 4,000 jobs fit the category.
Jobs that are getting replaced by AI are relativity low-skill positions in these sectors:
Finance and banking - Automation in this sector is driven by AI’s ability to handle data analysis, fraud detection, and customer service tasks.
Media and marketing - AI can automate routine tasks such as data analysis for consumer behavior insights, content curation, and digital advertising campaigns.
Legal services - Automation can handle document review, legal research, and other preparatory tasks, allowing legal professionals to focus on more complex issues.
The effects of artificial intelligence on the job market are complex and vary depending on the job. However, although AI has the potential to eliminate many positions, it will also create new opportunities. The key to reducing the negative effects of AI on the job market is to understand the technology and its potential impact. By doing so, we can take steps to ensure that AI is used in a way that benefits both workers and employers.