How AI is changing the job landscape

Generative AI’s ability to learn from large datasets and create anything from art, text or computer codes with a human-level accuracy and deftness is getting knowledge workers excited as well as worried.

Many firms are encouraging workers to use generative AI based chatbots and co-pilots at work to assess their long-term utility.

There is no doubt that AI will boost productivity and save time, but it is also expected to disrupt the job landscape and make many of the existing jobs obsolete.

According to the World Economic Forum, AI is expected to create 90 million new roles. However, McKinsey warns that it could also lead to the loss of 12 million jobs by 2030.

Many experts opine that it's not exactly AI that will take away jobs but people who know AI skills.

“Generative AI will create demand for new skills that can harness its potential and allow businesses to deploy generative AI applications safely. Some of the specific skills in demand include prompt engineering, AI safety and security, data scientists, machine learning engineers, data engineers,” said Arun Chandrasekaran, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner.

Potential impact of AI on jobs

Despite the looming threat to jobs from AI, it is yet to cause any major upheaval in the job market. However, some companies have started replacing some jobs in the customer care division with generative AI chatbots. Any major impact on jobs in finance, banking, legal and compliance divisions is yet to be seen. Most design and creative firms are cautiously watching the AI development, while some are encouraging their employees to explore some of the popular AI tools to see how they can assist with their work.

Some experts believe that business leaders are more likely to prioritize enhancing employee productivity over reducing headcount as the key value proposition of AI in the workplace. “In the near term, generative AI will be a productivity booster rather than eliminating jobs,” said Chandrasekaran.

What does learning AI skill mean?

Upskilling is a big focus area for many companies and they are regularly encouraging workers to attend workshops, learn new tech skills and get certifications. However, this approach varies across different sectors. In the IT and tech sector, many employees are expected to quickly adapt to the latest technology. But learning an AI skill for a creative writer or sales executive is not required or expected of them until now.

Not to forget, to build a career in AI one needs to understand concepts such as machine learning (ML) and neural networks. To fully grasp these concepts, a thorough understanding of mathematics, statistics, and computer science is crucial.

So, learning a new AI skill can be a bit more time-taking and challenging for non-tech workers. However, they can easily learn to use new AI tools that can enhance their work.

For instance, a marketing professional can learn to use generative AI tools for content creation, social media management, email marketing, and advertising. They can also use tools that can visualize complex data into easy-to-understand charts, graphs, and dashboards. They can also use AI tools to brainstorm and generate innovative marketing ideas.

Similarly, AI can assist writers, artists, and designers in generating ideas, creating content, and refining their work.

Skills needed to thrive in the AI era

Developing a highly efficient AI model will also require people with AI skills. Large language models (LLMs) require large volumes of high-quality data for training. Data scientists and engineers will be needed to curate, clean and label data for training and then evaluate it to identify and mitigate weaknesses such as hallucination or bias.

Demand for ethics experts will also grow as firms will look to mitigate negative publicity due to slip-ups by AI.

AI will also create jobs for those who can manage and maintain AI systems, such as

specialized IT professionals like cloud engineers, DevOps specialists, and system administrators who can ensure AI models are scalable and reliable.

Rising demand for AI-related job roles

According to LinkedIn’s Future of Work Report for 2023, between December 2022 and September 2023, views for AI and AI-related jobs that have AI or Machine Learning (ML) in their titles or require AI skills increased by 12% across the US, UK, Germany, India, Australia, Brazil, France, and Australia.

The report further shows that conversations around AI have increased by 70% with a substantial increase in mention of terms such as ChatGPT, prompt engineering, prompt crafting, Microsoft Copilot, generative AI. Also, since November 2022, English-language job postings mentioning GPT or ChatGPT have seen a 21x increase.

LinkedIn’s Economic Graph Research Institute estimates 55% of LinkedIn members globally will face disruption or growth because of generative AI, and the skills required for jobs will change by an average of 65% by 2030.

For example, a customer service representative may be required to understand how to use AI tools to quickly draft responses to customer inquiries, freeing up time for other important tasks.

India has one of the highest relative AI skill penetration rates globally, with members using AI skills 3.23 times more frequently than the global average, according to data shared by LinkedIn.

“Until new jobs directly related to these emerging technologies arise, the most immediate impact will likely be on transforming roles that will continue to exist but must evolve with AI in mind,” noted Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn.

Kimbrough has a point. Generative AI is poised to have a widespread impact on work across sectors. Some workers will be significantly impacted than others. Know-how of AI and learning to use genAI tools for different tasks can go a long way in creating new opportunities in an uncertain future.

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