Changes Will Not Bypass Us: AI Will Change More Than We Expect

For some time now, artificial intelligence (AI) has been among the main topics as it has quietly and insidiously knocked on the door of reality before we expected it. While we have been using it in some segments of life for a while, the emergence of publicly available AI tools that are easy to use last year caused a completely new turnaround and raised the question of how this technological revolution will affect the economy and our jobs.

From questions about how much AI will impact the work we do, whether it will make our jobs easier or harder, to whether we will even have anything to do?

And yes, we did not discover hot water by predicting that AI will cause the extinction of many jobs, but also companies. However, why is not everything so bleak, why does AI disturb us more than previous technologies, and what changes does AI bring to the business world?

Faster Than Expected

Although this seems like a huge change to many, let us not forget that significant technological changes have occurred in the not-so-distant past. The last such change that truly transformed the world and the way we work was the emergence of the internet. In this case, there were people who did not believe in that technology, nor that it would flood the world, nor introduce changes, nor that we would become dependent on it. But we did! And all much faster than was thought we would.

With artificial intelligence, it is not much different, but the speed at which it is becoming part of reality is much faster. In 2017, McKinsey estimated that models like GPT-4 would be developed by 2027, but they were surprised that it is already here, reports Business Insider. Seemingly overnight, OpenAI’s generative AI has turned the world, business, learning, studying… upside down. Now, the latest McKinsey report predicts that between 2030 and 2060, half of today’s work tasks will be automated. More precisely, they assume that this will happen by 2045 – which is almost a decade earlier than previously estimated.

What this means: things are changing quickly and faster than we think. And what is certain is that changes will not bypass us.

Roles Are Changing

Namely, the World Economic Forum estimates that 83 million jobs worldwide will be lost in the next five years due to AI, and with the projected 69 million newly created, there remains a gap of 14 million jobs. Even those people who keep their jobs will experience a significant change in the way they do their work – it is predicted that 44 percent of the core skills of workers will change in the next five years, reports Business Insider.

And a report from Goldman Sachs in March showed that artificial intelligence could affect more than 300 million jobs worldwide, while McKinsey estimates that for the same reason at least 12 million Americans will have to transition to another area of work by 2030.

And although automation has so far mostly affected low-skilled workers, with generative AI, even educated and highly skilled workers who could previously think about the future with peace of mind are vulnerable. A wide range of professions – from marketing and sales, engineering, research and development, accounting, financial consulting – are at risk of automation.

It Is Neither Black Nor White

However, all this does not mean that there will be a flood of unemployment. Although many expect this, it really should not happen that a mass of people begs for any job. Experts emphasize that AI should not cause mass unemployment. However, there will be disruptions that we are not yet sufficiently aware of.

AI will lead to the opening of jobs in the long term, but some new and different ones, while the demand for some roles that we think will be affected may actually increase. For example, ATMs have increased the number of bank tellers, reports Business Insider. Salaries for some jobs will decrease, while for others they will increase, but what is crucial is that employees will increasingly need to develop different skills. Also, it is not all on the workers. This type of reshuffling requires preparation from governments and companies, otherwise, the revolution of artificial intelligence could be painful.

And when done correctly, experts believe that AI could increase living standards, improve productivity, and accelerate economic opportunities. Because unlike the Internet, for which infrastructure needed to be developed, AI can spread much faster since the infrastructure already exists. Moreover, unlike crypto or the metaverse, AI is not complicated and already has practical use, which is why hundreds of millions of people are already integrating the technology into their daily work lives.

The Main Advantage in All This? Artificial intelligence makes the world faster and more productive. While productivity estimates reflect how workers within companies will become more efficient in their jobs, they also assume that laid-off workers will find new jobs. And as productivity increases, total economic output will rise and GDP.

The Need for Adaptation

So all this sounds like great news. However, what should not be forgotten is that the rapid pace of progress and adoption of AI makes this shift significantly different from past industrial revolutions, and the change will necessitate adaptation in education and workforce preparation. Outdated education systems are already failing to meet the needs of modern workers, let alone what will be needed as AI takes hold.

That is why, as another change, employers will need to accept investing in the workforce as normal – and quickly.

Because artificial intelligence is a catalyst that requires a proactive search for adaptation and change. And for workers to be resilient to major shocks, it is necessary to understand that this technological wave can learn equally well, both good and bad.