Is Your Position in Danger? How AI is Reshaping the Job Market

The global investment firm Goldman Sachs has forecast that artificial intelligence (AI) will boost the world's GDP by 7% within the next 10 years, a staggering $10 trillion in value! According to Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs, around two-thirds of current jobs can be partially automated by AI.

So, get ready for a whole new wave of jobs that haven't even been invented yet! ?Just like how 60% of today's jobs didn't even exist back in the 1940s.

But wait, is AI going to be our workplace nemesis? ?A Microsoft survey in Australia found that nearly half (46%) of the workers are worried that AI will take over their jobs. ?Yet, 65% of employees also said they'd be more than happy to hand off those boring, repetitive tasks to AI.

Jane Mackarell, Microsoft's Business Group Director (AUS & NZ), says AI won't be chopping jobs left and right. ?Their survey of 1,000 employers and employees found that most Aussie bosses don't think AI will lead to mass layoffs. ?In fact, they're more interested in how AI can boost productivity rather than replace people.

Here in Hong Kong, we’re now chatting with AI more often. ?This transformation helps companies to serve or sort out the requests of customers more efficiently - talking to chatbots instead of waiting on hold forever.

Certainly, "Voice is still the most important channel, as it's the most natural way for people to communicate with each other," says SecureCo's Chief Product Officer Josh McAdam, whose company aims to bridge the gap between human chat and audio AI. ?When customers call, the AI can pick up, and if it can't resolve the issue, it'll transfer the caller to a real person.?

The AI will mimic natural conversation, like "Hey there, welcome to XYZ Company, how can I help you today?" instead of the annoying robotic phone menu options.? As AI gets smarter, it can understand us better and sound more human. ?We might not even realize we're talking to a machine sometimes!

The impact of AI extends far beyond customer service, however, such as AI-powered analysis for financial firms to generate trend insights, or even regulatory bodies to detect any irregularities in trades; inventory tracking systems for retailers to optimize store layouts, predict demand, and reduce stockouts. ?AI is also transforming the healthcare and logistics sectors, including AI-powered imaging analysis for detecting diseases more accurately and efficiently, and AI route optimization and detection on the logistics front to boost efficiency across their supply chains; let alone the AI machine learning in the Olympic Games going on now which helps from judging to training.

The future is here, and AI may just become our most trusted sidekick. ?As AI applications grow across industries and the tech keeps advancing, it could soon be as commonplace as using a computer. ?The big question now is, how do we best work alongside this new "colleague" of ours?

? Ana Chan, July 2024

Solomon HR Solution