Which industries' job markets will be most affected by artificial intelligence (AI)?
Just over half (54%) of banking jobs are likely to be automated, while 12% could be augmented by AI, according to a new Citi report.
“AI-enabled customers are likely to intensify price competition in the financial sector. Power dynamics are likely to shift,” the banking giant said in the report's introduction. “AI will likely be adopted more quickly by digitally native, cloud-based companies such as fintechs and big techs, with agile incumbents quickly following suit. Many incumbents, weighed down by technical and cultural debt, may fall behind in AI adoption and lose market share.”
The report also noted that the shift to a “bot-driven world” raises compliance, security, regulatory and ethical issues.
“Because AI models are known to hallucinate and invent information that does not exist, organisations run the risk that AI chatbots could become fully autonomous, with negative financial and reputational impacts on their companies,” Citi said.
Other industries with high potential for automation include insurance (46%), capital markets (40%) and energy (43%), according to the report.
Citi's report follows one from the International Monetary Fund earlier this year which argued that the impact of AI will be particularly pronounced in developed countries.
Around 40% of global jobs are related to AI, but as AI tends to affect more highly skilled jobs, around 60% of jobs in developed countries could be affected by AI.
“While half of these jobs may benefit from the integration of AI, the other half may see primary tasks currently performed by humans performed by AI applications, which could result in lower labor demand, lower wages and fewer jobs,” PYMNTS wrote. “In some cases, certain jobs may even disappear.”
Meanwhile, PYMNTS recently explored how technologies like AI and automation are coming together to help CFOs amid a continuing accountant shortage.
“AI and ML are transforming everything in finance; it's the Industrial Revolution 4.0,” Jarrett Bruun, managing director and head of data and AI for global transaction services at Bank of America, told PYMNTS. “Treasurers' job is to drive operational and cost efficiencies, and these tools and technologies are fundamentally changing how they do their day-to-day work.”
