In today’s world, the impact of technological progress is becoming more and more noticeable in all spheres of life. Every year, artificial intelligence penetrates deeper and deeper into various areas of the economy, changing the approach to work and the requirements for professional skills of employees. Despite the benefits of the use of neural networks, there are fears in society about the replacement of AI workers, and therefore the loss of jobs. Let’s try to figure out how such integration will affect employees and what will be the future of the labor market in the conditions of the new technological reality.
The impact of AI on the labor market
According to research from Microsoft and LinkedIn, 75% of employees actively use AI in their work. Today, with the help of a neural network, doctors diagnose diseases and make predictions about the development of diseases.
AI is also widely used in business: to implement the process of production automation and quality control, to conduct financial analytics, to forecast trends and fight against fraudsters.
AI technology is actively used by educators, selecting learning materials and performing automatic evaluation.
“There is a difference between the fact that a pupil or student simply gave the AI a task to do homework, and the fact that he is studying a certain topic together with the AI,” – Deputy Minister of Education and Science Yevhen Kudryavtsev explains the benefits of using the latest technology.
Chatbots, interactive services and applications for searching and receiving information or content are used every minute.
Ukraine, too, following global trends, widely uses AI capabilities. Thus, in Ukrainian medical centers, neural networks are effectively used for the treatment of infertility. AI deals with comprehensive diagnostics of embryos and predicts the probability of pregnancy.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation intends to introduce artificial intelligence into the operations of government services to automate and accelerate service delivery.
“Ukrzaliznytsia” uses GPT-chat for structuring and analyzing passenger feedback, quick problem solving, which significantly improved the company’s work.
“With the advent of GPT-chat, the company has the opportunity to quickly process large data sets and analyze them more deeply. The main advantage of the system is its independent ability to identify feedback categories and classify them”, — says Oleksiy Pugach, project manager of Ukrzaliznytsia.
The Forbes Ukraine team actively uses AI in its projects to create illustrations and improve the quality of images.
“The products became better, we were able to do more, better, and, of course, much faster”, – creative director of the publication Maksym Zoloyedov shares his impressions of the use of AI.
A technological breakthrough leads to significant changes in the labor market.
“Artificial intelligence will replace 85 million jobs worldwide”, – stated in the report of the World Economic Forum The Future of Jobs Report 2023.
And this cannot but cause concern in society. Since AI activities are aimed at automating and accelerating such actions as data entry and processing, we should expect a reduction in such jobs on the market. It is likely that such inevitable crowding out will lead to increased unemployment and income inequality among citizens.
So, many countries operate cashless stores, where all sales and payment processes are controlled by a neural network. Chatbots that are able to respond to customer requests are becoming more and more common. Therefore, there is no need for call center operators and chat administrators. Just as AI is able to deal with management issues, secretaries and office workers also become unnecessary.
According to research by the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium, 62.5% of business and management occupations are undergoing significant transformation. 66.7% of professions in the field of design will also change.
The consortium formulated the skills that are currently relevant in the labor market:
- ethics and responsible use of AI;
- architecture of large language models (LLM);
- machine learning (ML);
- ability to perform data analysis;
- natural language processing (NLP).
Skills such as programming, content creation, scripting and data management are becoming redundant in today’s world.
According to The Future of Jobs Report, the following top 10 jobs in demand on the labor market can be compiled:
- Specialists in artificial intelligence and machine learning;
- Specialists in sustainable development;
- Business analytics;
- Information security analysts;
- Financial engineering engineers;
- Analysts and researchers;
- Robotics engineers;
- Electrical engineering engineers;
- Agricultural machinery operators;
- Specialists in digital transformation.
“Either you start using artificial intelligence, or it will replace you. Many people are afraid of artificial intelligence and say: “What will happen to thousands of civil servants there? And what will happen to thousands of company employees?”. I believe that, on the contrary, a powerful market is opening up, artificial intelligence should be studied. Many new specialists, new professions will appear. This is a trend that needs to be led, not run away from.”, — Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov proves the benefits of involving AI.
It is likely that there will not be a complete replacement of roles in the market, but rather, their transformation and improvement. And here it is important not to dismiss new technologies, but to take advantage of the opportunity to retrain and acquire new abilities and skills that are relevant and in demand on the labor market.
Humans have skills such as creativity, empathy, and critical thinking. It is clear that artificial intelligence cannot replace them. Making decisions based on moral and ethical values is also the prerogative of only a person. Even the most complex algorithms will not be able to motivate, inspire the creation of creative projects, involve teamwork. This is where artificial intelligence is significantly inferior to human nature. And, therefore, you should not be afraid of being replaced, but try to use the potential of the latest technology in tandem, which will significantly speed up the usual routine processes and give more opportunities for creativity.
As for companies, according to studies, 37% of employees are involved in various virtual training programs at the expense of companies, and more than 37% undergo trainings to learn operational writing of texts. However, it is worth noting the fact that not all companies are in a hurry to provide training to their employees, but rather prefer already prepared personnel. Therefore, in order to be competitive in the labor market, future employees are forced to acquire the necessary knowledge themselves. According to the survey, 79% of respondents said that AI skills increase their employment opportunities, and 69% said that having the skills to apply AI is a direct step to promotion.
Prospects of the labor market
As we can see, artificial intelligence is becoming more and more visible in various spheres of human activity. From simple algorithms to complex machine learning systems, AI today is already demonstrating the ability to perform tasks that previously required significant human effort. But will AI replace workers in the near future? In which areas can human labor be replaced by robots, and what consequences will this have for the labor market?
One of the first areas where AI is already actively displacing workers is the processing of large volumes of data and analytics. Thanks to machine learning and algorithms, AI can analyze information many times faster and more accurately than humans. The application of such technologies in finance, marketing, medical diagnostics and science has already shown significant benefits, putting the jobs of analysts and data specialists at risk.
Robotization of production processes is another area where AI can replace humans in the future. Already, robots are actively used on assembly lines and in logistics centers, performing tasks faster and at lower costs than human labor. This means that traditional manufacturing jobs may disappear or be significantly reduced.
AI in the form of chatbots and voice assistants is already replacing employees who respond to customer requests in banks, retail chains and other service areas. With the development of technology and the ability of AI to “learn”, its application in this field will only increase, leading to a decrease in the number of jobs for humans.
Self-driving cars, delivery drones, and other AI-driven technologies could also significantly change the transportation and logistics job market. Drivers, couriers and other workers in the transport industry may lose their jobs due to the introduction of such technologies.
The replacement of human labor by artificial intelligence can have both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, increasing productivity and work efficiency will help reduce costs and increase the competitiveness of enterprises. On the other hand, the mass loss of jobs in certain sectors can lead to serious social problems, in particular to the growth of unemployment and social inequality.
One of the biggest challenges for society will be adaptation to new labor market conditions. This includes retraining workers, implementing new education standards that will take into account changes in the technological landscape, and developing social programs to support those who will lose their jobs due to automation.
Therefore, artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly change the labor market in the near future. The implementation of AI in various fields will undoubtedly lead to the replacement of people in many jobs. However, for these changes to benefit society, strategies must be developed today to help mitigate the negative effects of automation and create new opportunities for workers in a world where AI will play an increasingly important role.
The integration of artificial intelligence into the labor market is one of the most relevant topics of modern society, which causes both admiration and serious and well-founded concerns. Increasing efficiency and increasing labor productivity, creating new professions with the involvement of the latest technologies – all these are attractive prospects that make the process of using AI in the labor market an inevitable process. However, the more AI is used in various areas of life, the faster the need for professions that ensured the implementation of routine, repetitive operations disappears. And this puts at risk a significant number of workers who were involved in the performance of such duties. What awaits them? Probably mass layoffs and unemployment. A serious challenge for many workers is the need to adapt and learn new skills in order to remain competitive in the modern labor market. It is important that the state and enterprises facilitate this process by introducing retraining and upskilling measures in order to ensure a smooth and painless transition to the emergence of new job vacancies.
A balanced approach will allow society to use the potential of AI for the benefit of the development of various spheres of life, and, therefore, to improve the quality of the processes performed and attract as many creative ideas as possible from employees.
