By now, you may have heard about AI many times. But have you ever thought how it is affecting employment opportunities worldwide? AI is now the new buzz word that may sound as a blessing to businesses, but at the same time, it is a threat to many job seekers. Businesses are aiming to fully utilize AI to increase productivity and profit margins with limited workforce. The impact of AI is not limited to existing jobs or employment opportunities. Instead, it has a wider scope that will transform the entire economy. While you might think that only IT professionals will get affected by AI, the harsh truth is all working professionals will be affected. This includes HRs, telecallers, medical professionals, non-tech professionals, engineers, etc. Let me highlight how AI will affect us in this post and what we must do to sail thorugh such hard situations.
The impact of AI is not going to be small as businesses are still evaluating its use cases in various areas to maximize profits. It would surely impact the income and wealth of many individuals across the world. This would be because of polarization within income brackets. Workers who can leverage AI will increase their productivity multifolds but who do not embrace AI will suffer heavily. This is true particularly for young workers who can easily learn new technology and can adjust accordingly to meet the demand of the hour. Traditional workers, especially older generations will find it hard to stay relevant in this situation. If they do not upgrade their skills and learn how to use AI for boosting productivity, they would lose jobs.
AI will reshape the whole working environment
Studies have shown that AI will play a crucial role in transforming the whole job market. Organizations can now leverage AI to perform the most tideous and repetitive tasks without manpower via automation. This will eliminate the need of human labor which will in turn increase their profits. Since 2022, many professionals are laid off and many are afraid of future lay offs.
Numerous researches have forecasted the possibility of AI replacing human labor. However, we also know that AI is likely to support human labor in many situations. I have analyzed various studies and the IMF analysis to understand the real impact of AI on job market.
And the results are startling:
AI is used in over 40% of jobs worldwide. Automation and information technology have always had an impact on repetitive work, but artificial intelligence (AI) stands out for its capacity to affect highly skilled jobs. Hence, compared to emerging market and developing countries, established economies face more risks from AI but also have more opportunity to take use of its advantages.
AI may have an impact on roughly 60% of jobs in developed economies. The productivity of most jobs might be increased by integrating AI.
Half of the workforce may see a reduction in labor demand, which would result in lower earnings and fewer jobs being hired, as AI programs take over critical functions currently completed by people. In the worst circumstances, several of these positions might vanish.
In contrast, it is anticipated that AI exposure will be 40% in emerging economies and 26% in low-income nations. These results imply that poor and emerging market economies will experience less direct disruptions from AI. However, a lot of these nations lack the infrastructure and trained labor to fully utilize AI, which increases the possibility that the technology will eventually exacerbate international inequality.
AI will Heavily Impact Professionals with Little Learning Curve
AI can help less experienced people increase their output more quickly, according to research. While older workers could find it difficult to adjust, younger workers might find it simpler to take advantage of opportunities.
The degree to which AI will supplement high-earning workers will determine the impact on labor income. Higher-paid workers may see a disproportionate boost in labor income if AI greatly complements them. Furthermore, businesses that use AI are likely to see increases in productivity, which will raise capital returns and may benefit top earners. These two occurrences have the potential to worsen inequality.
AI will most likely increase inequality overall, which is a worrying trend that governments need to address head-on to stop the technology from escalating societal unrest. It is imperative that nations take some concreate steps to ensure social security for vulnerable workforce that may get affected by AI trends. This will ensure that AI does not adversely impact the world.
Most In-demand Jobs at Present
Despite the AI revolution, there exist some tech jobs that are still in demand. These jobs include Cloud Professionals (Cloud Architects, Admins, Security Engineers, etc.), Data Engineers, Cybersecurity Analysts, DevOps professionals etc.
Conclustion
While we transition to the new world where AI can prove to be helpful, there are good chances that it can be determental for a section of workers, provided they do not upskill and make themelves ready for new opportunities. It is essential for you to ensure that you keep learning new technologies and acquire skills that are in demand. This will help you sail through any disruption caused by AI technology. The future is going to be only for those who prepare for it now.