Public Perception of AI and Job Security

The winds of change are blowing regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on jobs. I recently used Suzy to survey over 600 people to gauge public perception of how AI will transform the workplace. The results reveal some interesting insights and concerns about the future of work in the age of intelligent machines.

Let's look at the numbers from Suzy:

• Knowledge about AI varies greatly, with 22% considering themselves highly knowledgeable and 18% not knowledgeable. Gender and age gaps exist, with younger and male respondents trending more knowledgeable.
• Most believe AI will significantly impact job availability in their industry within ten years. 27% think it will moderately reduce job availability, while 15% believe it will increase availability. Men and younger people are more optimistic.
• About 1 in 3 are concerned about AI affecting their current job, though 21% report no concern. Older respondents and women express higher levels of concern.
• Opinions are split on whether AI will create more jobs than it displaces long-term, with the pessimists slightly edging out the optimists. Men and younger respondents lean positive.
• Almost 1 in 6 report undertaking training to improve skills in response to AI, though 20% aren't considering it. Younger respondents are more proactive in skill-building.
• About 1 in 5 believe their skills make them irreplaceable by AI, with the rest falling somewhere in the middle. Older and male respondents feel more irreplaceable.

Bracing for Impact

The message is loud and clear - most professionals realize AI will significantly transform their industries within the next decade. The pressing question is how to prepare for this seismic shift.

Many fear being replaced by intelligent machines. But AI expert Andrew Ng provides an optimistic viewpoint: "AI is the new electricity. Electricity has transformed every major industry, and AI will do the same - but we never worry about electricity putting people out of jobs. The same will be true for AI."

Rather than replace human workers, AI will augment and enhance human capabilities. Jobs may change, but humans will remain vital. Reports illustrate that younger generations understand this reality. Older workers must now play catch-up. Organizations have a role to play through robust training, career development, and succession planning.

Job Transform, Some Destruction

AI adoption is surging. In a recent Gartner survey, 37% of organizations had implemented some form of AI, up from just 10% in 2018. But contrary to dire predictions, AI has yet to cause mass unemployment. Yet, Forrester predicts automation will displace 24.7 million jobs and create 14.9 million new jobs by 2027 for a net loss of only 9.8 million (-0.7% of total employment). The most brutal hit will be manual and clerical roles.

History provides perspective. The Industrial Revolution, automobiles, railroads, electricity, and the internet stoked fears of machines displacing human workers. Yet we adapted, found new roles, and living standards vastly improved. AI can drive similar progress. Accenture estimates it could boost profits by 38% by 2035 and raise productivity by 40%. Other experts forecast enormous economic growth and new job categories we can't yet imagine.

Rather than resist change, we must proactively manage its impact through policies promoting job transitioning, continuous learning, small business growth, and labor flexibility.

Burn the Box! New Thinking

For years, we all were encouraged to be creative or "think outside the box." The box was the status quo or ways in which we had always done things, so the idea was to come up with solutions that had yet to be invented, ideas that were different. But what if we didn't even need the box or if the box wasn't even there? The idea that the current construct (the box) is the constraint opens up a new world of possibilities that allow us to "burn the box."

So, how do we "Burn the Box" with AI and our careers? AI expert Kai-Fu Lee advocates developing "hyphenated" skill sets that combine technical capabilities like AI and data science with soft skills like imagination, teamwork, and compassion. For example, an auto mechanic could become an "AI-auto mechanic" skilled at collaborating with AI tools. A Radiologist could be an "AI-radiologist" certified in AI-assisted diagnosis.

Creative human-machine collaboration will generate new solutions. Uber software engineer Brittany Davis calls this "human-centered AI." She builds algorithms that improve drivers' experiences, pointing to the ideal human-AI partnership. In their pivot book, published in 2011, Race Against the Machine , MIT Economic Professors Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson concluded that the most powerful will be not only humans or machines but humans + machines.

When one of my favorite thought leaders and authors, Peter Zeihan , is asked about the impact of AI on jobs, he provides some fascinating insight . He sees a few sectors where AI can make a substantial impact, like agriculture (output), manufacturing (automation), finance (efficiency), defense, and crypto (cybersecurity). He warns about the chip deficiency required to do AI at scale. He predicts that we will see the most significant AI impact on the industry where the government chooses to focus on assisting.

The future remains unwritten. AI will force us to burn the traditional career box, but tremendous opportunities will emerge from the ashes. We can build an era of shared prosperity with vision, responsibility, and proactive change management.

The winds of change bring challenges but also possibilities. It's time to start building our new perspectives.