Since the explosive launch of ChatGPT, fears of not being able to compete against artificial intelligence have prevailed among workers, leading to mass unemployment. However, a new study has suggested that such fears may be completely unfounded. Research from the European Central Bank (ECB) predicts that AI will create jobs and that any reports suggesting otherwise “may be greatly exaggerated.”
After evaluating nine years of data collected in 16 European countries, the ECB found that low- and medium-skilled jobs were largely unaffected by the technology boom, while opportunities for younger, highly-skilled workers increased. instead of disappearing.
Between 2011 and 2019, during which there were many technological advances in language processing, image recognition, and algorithm-based recommendations, researchers found “no evidence that the software replaces routine, medium-skilled jobs.”
“The relationship between software exposure and changes in employment is null for the pooled sample,” the paper noted. What’s more, highly skilled jobs in fields affected by AI could grow by up to 4.3%, at least in Europe.
But even if AI doesn’t steal your job, the ECB predicted it could come for your salary. The study concludes that its data “suggests a neutral to slightly negative impact” on workers’ income.
Job seekers already know that jobs are related to AI
For job seekers, the ECB‘s findings do not come as a big surprise, as they stay one step ahead of the central bank and apply for AI-related positions to prepare for the future.
Over the past two years, job postings on LinkedIn that mention AI have received 17% more applications than those that don’t because, as Erin Scruggs, the networking platform’s vice president of global talent acquisition, says, “ The candidates are intelligent.”
“They are showing that they want to go where the opportunities are,” he added.
Yishan Wong, former CEO of Reddit, explained to Fortune that these roles are not exclusive to tech experts: most workers can step aside in the field of artificial intelligence because, in reality, it does not require “an enormous amount of technical knowledge,” he insisted.
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While entities like Goldman Sachs warn about replacing jobs with AI, others see a panorama of complementarity. (Illustrative image Infobae)
But leaders can’t agree on whether AI will displace or support workers
Although workers, Wong and the ECB believe that the future of work is bright thanks to AI, leaders remain unsure. Investment bank Goldman Sachs estimated that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs worldwide in the coming years.
Suumit Shah, CEO of Duukan, a company based in India, has already started replacing 90% of its workforce with artificial intelligence, and considers this productivity measure “obvious.”
Even Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM, predicted that although “repetitive white-collar jobs” will be the first to be automated, he disagrees that this means humanity will be left jobless.
“People confuse productivity with job displacement,” he said at Fortune‘s CEO Initiative conference.
As an example, he points to the jobs created by the invention of the Internet. “In 1995, no one thought there would be five million web designers, and there are,” Krishna said.
For his part, billionaire Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, optimistically flirts with the idea of a three-day week, in which “machines can make all the food and things, and we don’t have to work as much.”
Ultimately, once leaders agree on whether AI will displace or support workers, as the ECB document notes, they will have the greatest impact on employment prospects: “The outcome for employment depends on whether “AI-enabled technologies will replace or complement the workforce.”
