- Generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and large language models will have a huge impact on how we work in the future.
- However, managers as well as employees disagree about whether introducing AI into the workplace is likely to create new jobs or destroy existing ones. are separated.
- Recent polls from the CNBC CFO Council and CNBC Technology Executive Council show that executives have differing views on the impact of AI on work.
There is no debate that artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on the future of work and how it will be done, but will AI create or destroy online jobs? There is disagreement as to whether the , creating better jobs for humans or simply replacing a significant percentage of the workforce.
Workers are concerned, but what is remarkable is that their concerns fall far short of the majority view. About a quarter (24%) fear AI will make their jobs obsolete, according to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey workforce survey conducted in May. Low-wage workers are more concerned. There is another notable disagreement within the C-suite of large companies where decisions are made about AI adoption and return on investment. Finance leaders are more likely than technology leaders to see AI as a job-destroyer.
Nearly half (41%) of respondents to the CNBC CFO Council’s latest quarterly survey said they believe AI will destroy more jobs than it creates. The same percentage say it’s too early to tell. However, considering potential future options, only 18% of CFOs said they see AI as a job creator.
This is because nearly half (47%) of senior tech officials responding to a recent CNBC Technology Executive Council survey said they believe AI technology will create more jobs than it will destroy. This is in contrast to what we did. Some tech executives are less optimistic. Twenty-six percent said AI will destroy more jobs than it creates, and the same 26% said it’s too early to know. But given the same options as her CFO, who makes financial and cost decisions for the company, tech executives are more likely to be optimistic.
CFOs are inherently cautious, and this is reflected in the pace at which executives are investing in AI in their companies. More than 40% of his CFOs surveyed say their company is evaluating but cautious about his new AI investments amid the AI boom, and 32% are accelerating investments. I answered yes. A further 18% said their company is not planning any new AI investments.
AI is clearly a priority for tech executives. Nearly half of TEC members surveyed by CNBC say AI will be their top technology spending priority over the next year, with AI budgets more than double the 21% for cloud computing, the second largest spending area in technology. said it is.
Matt Higgins, CEO of private investment firm RSE Ventures, said on CNBC’s “Last Call” Thursday that CFOs are making mistakes.
“My first reaction was one of fear,” Higgins said of the 18% of CFO respondents who said their companies were not planning new AI investments. “They’re going to regret it one day, so it’s nice to be anonymous,” he said.
“CFOs should adopt AI early because it’s easy to do,” Higgins said. “If you go to Twitter today, you’ll find 20 different tools that could make someone’s job easier, or bring something that was outsourced in-house… The spam should be sent by the CFO, president.”
Higgins said top executives suggesting the company isn’t planning new AI investments reflected the “ignorance” still prevalent in the U.S. corporate sector about what was going on. He cited his recent PwC survey, which showed that in the US only 25% of companies said they had AI in place, while in China the same figure showed he had 58%. Quoted. “There is already a war that most people are unaware of,” he said.
Mark McDonald, Senior Director Analyst, Finance Operations, Gartner, said he sees an opportunity to automate many tasks, especially in finance. By automating processes such as verifying numbers and checking data, finance professionals can focus on analyzing and responding to data. This is a potential outcome that reflects the belief among many AI leaders that AI will take over tasks that don’t make the most of human potential, allowing workers to focus on higher-order tasks. .
McDonald, who focuses on the application and impact of AI and machine learning technologies, said this approach could be more leveraged across the enterprise, providing opportunities for AI to create more jobs, or at least enhance them. Some low-wage jobs may also be cut, he said. need. But from a CFO and financial standpoint, he added, “there’s no shortage of jobs.”
“We are at the beginning of this era, but AI is not yet in the workplace and we are far from achieving it,” he said.
McDonald’s is still in the midst of deciding whether AI will create or destroy online jobs. “AI is one of them, but with any disruptive technology you’ll see job changes. Some jobs will disappear and some will be created,” he said.
A wait-and-see approach may be right, as it takes time for a clear answer to a job question to materialize. Mark Zandy, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, recently told CNBC that even if companies see opportunities to cut costs, fears that AI will put workers out of work may be premature.
“History is the guide, and when you look at other innovative technologies, it takes time for those technologies to become part of business practices,” Zandi said. “Usually it happens over a period of years, sometimes decades.”
Zandi added that the introduction of AI could improve overall productivity, so workers could get more salaries.
“We are just the first step in a long transition,” McDonald said. “I heard this somewhere and I agree. This is Industry 3.0 or 4.0 and it will change the way we do things, the way we think about things and the way we solve problems.”
