AI: professionals fear losing their jobs – 04/28/2023 – Market

Claire has worked for six years in public relations at a leading London-based consultancy. She is 34 years old, enjoys her job and earns a good salary. But in the last six months, she has begun to feel apprehensive about the future of her career. The reason: artificial intelligence.

“I don’t think the quality of the work I produce can be compared with current machines,” says Claire (last name omitted for professional security reasons). “But at the same time, I’m amazed at how sophisticated ChatGPT has become in such a short time.”

“I hate to think what this could mean for my employability.”

In recent years, headlines have proliferated about robots “stealing” human jobs. And creative AI tools like ChatGPT quickly became more accessible.

As a result, some professionals are starting to become anxious about their future and wondering whether their knowledge will be relevant to the job market in the coming years.

In March, Goldman Sachs published a report demonstrating that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs.

And in the latest global job market survey conducted annually by consulting firm PwC, nearly a third of respondents expressed concern that their role could be replaced by technology within three years.

“I think a lot of creative professionals are concerned,” says Alys Marshall, a 29-year-old copywriter based in Bristol, UK.

“We all expect our customers to recognize [o nosso] value and choose authenticity [de um ser humano] rather than the price and convenience of AI tools.”

At the moment, professional coaches and HR experts say some anxiety can be justified, but professionals need to focus on what they can control.

Instead of panicking about losing their jobs to machines, they should invest in learning how to work hand-in-hand with technology.

Experts believe that if professionals treat them as a resource rather than a threat, they will become more valuable to potential employers, which will reduce their anxiety.

fear of the unknown

For some people, creative AI tools seem to have come along fast and furious. OpenAI’s ChatGPT seems to have developed overnight and the “AI arms race” grows by the day, creating permanent uncertainty among professionals.

Professional coach Carolyn Montrose, a professor at Columbia University in New York, in the United States, recognizes that the speed of change and technological innovation can be daunting.

“It’s normal to feel anxiety about the impact of AI because its evolution is fluid and there are so many unknown application factors,” she says.

But as unsettling as the new technology can be, it also asserts that professionals need not necessarily experience existential fears.

People are empowered to make their own decisions about the extent of their concern. They can “decide to be anxious about AI or feel empowered to learn about it and use it to their advantage.”

Scott Likens, a PwC professional specializing in understanding trust and technology issues, agrees.

“Advances in technology have shown us that, yes, technology has the potential to automate or streamline work processes,” he says. “But with the right knowledge, individuals can often make progress alongside those advances.”

“To reduce anxiety about the rapid adoption of AI, professionals need to immerse themselves in the technology. Learning and training [são] fundamental for professionals to learn about AI and what it can do for their specific role, as well as helping them to develop new knowledge”, advises Likens.

For him, “instead of running away from AI, professionals should prepare to accept it and learn about it”.

It may also be helpful to remember that, according to Likens, “It’s not the first time we’ve faced disruption in industries – from automation and manufacturing to retail and e-commerce – and we’ve always found ways to adapt.”

Indeed, the introduction of new technologies has often been distressing for some people. But Montrose explains that a lot of good has come out of past developments. For her, technological changes have always been a key ingredient for society’s advances.

However people react to AI, Montrose says it’s here to stay – and it can be much more helpful to stay positive and look ahead.

“If people become anxious instead of taking action to improve their knowledge, they will be harmed more than by the AI ​​itself,” she said.

The value of human

Experts say some degree of anxiety is warranted, but perhaps it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.

Recent research demonstrates that fears that robots will take over human jobs may be overblown.

A survey carried out in November 2022 by sociology professor Eric Dahlin, from Brigham Young University in Utah, in the United States, concluded that robots are not replacing human professionals at the speed that most people believe – and, more than that , that some people also overestimate this speed.

During the survey, about 14% of professionals said they had their jobs replaced by robots. But professionals tended to overestimate the speed and volume of this trend—both among those who lost jobs to technology and those who did not. In both cases, their estimates were far beyond reality.

“Overall, our perception that robots are taking over is greatly exaggerated. Those who did not lose their jobs estimated approximately twice as much [da realidade]while those who lost their jobs overestimated by about three times”, said Dahlin, when presenting his research.

While he claims that some of the new technology would likely be adopted and implemented without considering all the implications, it is also true that “just because the technology can be used for some function does not mean that it will be implemented.”

Stefanie Coleman, head of people advisory services at consultancy EY, also suggests that we shouldn’t expect the workforce of the future to be “binary”. In other words, there always needs to be a combination of humans and robots.

For her, “human beings will always have a role to play in business, doing the important jobs that robots cannot do. This type of work usually requires innate human qualities, such as relationship building, creativity and emotional intelligence” .

“Recognizing the unique importance of humans in the workforce, compared to machines, is an important step in addressing the fears surrounding this issue,” says Coleman.

A few weeks ago, Claire – the public relations professional – decided to start learning more about the technology that is transforming her industry. Now, she’s researching online courses and hopes she can learn to code.

“A lot of technology used to scare me and I just ignored it. But from what I’m seeing, it’s kind of ridiculous,” she says.

“Ignoring something definitely isn’t going to make it go away. I’m slowly starting to understand that if I take the time to familiarize myself with it – making it less scary – it can really help me a lot.”