Despite the potential to increase operational efficiencies for business, AI has many people worried about the effect it may have on the physical workforce. Here we examine its potential impact on job roles, whether it will cause job displacement, how it could transform traditional work environments, and whether it can be managed ethically and effectively.
How is AI affecting the physical workforce?
A 2023 Government report by the Department of Education entitled ‘The impact of AI on UK jobs and training’ was one of the first official attempts to understand if and how AI will impact the UK job market and the effect that exposure to AI will have on the workforce. It suggests that AI is likely to have a widespread effect on the UK economy and jobs in particular, estimating that between 10% and 30% of roles have the potential to include some automation. However, it also indicates that AI can increase productivity and create new jobs that offer high-value employment, benefiting the UK economy.
The occupations most likely to be exposed to AI applications are:
- Management consultants and business analysts
- Financial managers and directors
- Chartered and certified accountants
- Psychologists
- Purchasing managers and directors
- Actuaries, economists and statisticians
- Business and financial project management professionals
- Finance and investment analysts and advisers
- Legal professionals
- Business and related associate professionals
Other occupations included: solicitors, credit controllers, civil engineers, HR professionals, bookkeepers and marketing professionals.
Positives as well as negatives
Over recent years there have been countless sensationalising headlines about AI – most along the lines of ‘Robots will take all our jobs’, but as these lists reveal, AI will impact – not ‘steal’ – fewer manual roles than professional, and in those it does impact, it has the potential to improve efficiency, making life easier for those whose jobs it does touch, as well as creating new jobs.
A 2023 study by Sir Christopher Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, in partnership with the Institute for the Future of Work and the Nuffield Foundation, called ‘The Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing’ examined the thinking behind organisations adopting AI and its consequences for jobs. It noted that behind all the headlines warning about mass redundancies and job displacement, few column inches were being devoted to the impact it has on potential job creation, the quality of those jobs and skills demand. AI, the report argues, can ‘augment and complement human capabilities’ enabling workers to leave boring and routine tasks to technology, and spend their time on more ‘interesting, challenging, meaningful, and value-creating work’.
How will jobs change?
The IMF notes that almost 40% of workers across the globe are exposed to AI and because the technology is an emerging one, no one has, as yet, been able to fully describe its implications. In the short term, however, it says that there are many opportunities to leverage the benefits of AI, enhance productivity and help workers both perform better and learn more.
AI can help improve customer satisfaction, increase employee retention and create new products and services, and rather than cause mass job displacement, as has been feared, AI has the potential to create countless new jobs. Many of these new roles will undoubtedly relate directly to the technologies being used – governments are now focused on filling the skills gap, enabling more people to move into the development and application of AI – but many will result from an uplift to the economy, resulting in greater productivity and higher incomes which will benefit not only the workforce but also the UK economy as a whole.
Transforming traditional work environments
According to the 2021 Census the industries that employed the largest numbers of people were wholesale, retail and motor trade (4.2 million), human health and social work activities (4.1 million), education (2.7 million), construction (2.4 million) and manufacturing (2 million). As we’ve already, seen some industries will be affected more by AI than others, but these figures reveal that there is no broad definition of a traditional work environment, and every sector has limits to the amount of impact by AI.
In the future, however, in those areas that are affected by AI the potential to streamline processes and increase productivity are boundless. It has the ability to democratise expertise, giving wider access to specialised skills to more employees, enhance the quality of decision-making, nurture talent and skills and create innovation, widen an organisation’s diversity and reduce inequality.
How to manage these transitions ethically and effectively
Businesses that are already embarking upon or are considering an AI-enabled workplace must plan for a future that many of us haven’t yet envisaged. This involves not only investing in the technology itself but also in upskilling and reskilling employees to equip them with the necessary skills to get the most from AI. The impact on company culture and employee engagement must also be factored in, as must the implications for a society where AI is commonplace.
Ethical considerations such as the use of data, privacy concerns and security risks must be paramount and transparency with regards to its use both for customers and employees must be crystal clear. This can be done through effective communication, adherence with guidelines and regulations, and ensuring a balance so that AI is used in a spirit of fairness and equality that reduces discrimination in every aspect of the human beings it touches.
For expert advice on any of the topics discussed in this blog, contact Brighter Consultancy.
COMMENTS