GenAI and the Future
That being said, I do think we need to be aware of the potential consequences of tools like ChatGPT4 and others becoming mainstream in the workforce. There has been an enormous amount of discussion and debate about what the eventual impact of AI and GenAI on the future of work and jobs globally. In one corner of the ring there are those that believe that they will inevitably displace jobs, and in the other corner there are those who think they will augment human work and even create new jobs.
The two competing perceptions are summarized below.
As we know, technologies like ChatGPT4 perform tasks that have been traditionally performed by humans which could lead to job displacement. Already, these tools are being widely used in customer service roles, managing complaints, and executing complex transactions without human intervention. This more advanced level of automation could reduce the need for human employees, potentially leading to job losses in the future.
In addition, the range of tasks that GenAI can handle is growing exponentially today.?As these models become more refined and sophisticated, it seems logical that they will become more capable of performing more complex and difficult tasks in future and accelerate job displacement.
The converse argument or discussion is that GenAI is nothing more than a tool that should be able to augment human capabilities, not replace them. It can perform repetitive or mundane tasks and free up time for our workforces to focus on more creative and complex tasks that add value to our enterprises.
While it is true that tools like ChatGPT4 and others can manage simple customer inquiries and allow human customer service representatives to focus on other issues that require a “human touch”, we must never forget that the final decision on how and when to use AI and GenAI remains in our “human” hands. Only if or when we collaborate with AI and GenAI and not allow it to cannibalize work will we ever harness its’ true power and increase productivity and efficiency in our organizations.
I also sense that we need to remember that new tools like GenAI are already creating new and different jobs including disciplines like development, ethics, data analysis, and many others that did not exist before the advent of AI and GenAI. These jobs often require a new skill set, and there is a growing need for education and training in these areas.
In summary and conclusion, I believe that the eventual impact of GenAI will be a salad bowl mix of both augmentation and displacement. In my mind, the more important and compelling discussion we ought to be having right now is how do we successfully address the huge challenge of reskilling our entire workforce to harness the immense power of these new applications. We need to be ready to help our employees who will be displaced with the opportunity to learn new skills and transition to new roles in our factoring firms. This is likely to require a fundamental shift in mindset in the ways we educate, train, manage and mentor our human capital in the future.?