Introduction
Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as “the ability of a system to correctly interpret external data, learn from that data, and use that learning to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation.”
The OECD has defined AI as a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit purposes, infers how to create outcomes from the inputs it receives (e.g., data), providing predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions accordingly.
Automation is profoundly transforming the world of work, bringing about changes that bring opportunities and also risks. To avoid its negative consequences, professionals must imperatively anticipate them in order to support and plan the deployment of artificial intelligence without neglecting the importance of social dialogue and the active participation of workers in its implementation.
I- How artificial intelligence is transforming the world of work
In principle, the degree of exposure of jobs to AI varies depending on the nature of the profession. Some will be very little affected, meaning that artificial intelligence is unlikely to have an impact on their work. On the other hand, others will be highly exposed, meaning that AI could significantly change the way their activities are organized.
Over the past decade, analyses have tended to emphasize either labor substitution or efficiency gains and new types of work resulting from the implementation of AI.
In this context, AI has at least three effects on employment : displacement, augmentation and creation of jobs that will have direct links to AI such as AI specialists, modelers, data trainers, query and machine learning engineers and business intelligence analysts.
At the same time, many jobs will be isolated from AI innovations, at least as far as their core skills are concerned, for example in healthcare, construction or hospitality.
Initially, analysts assumed that AI and automation would primarily affect routine manual and cognitive tasks, predicting that this would create a growing demand for creative jobs and data analysts, but with the rise of generative AI tools that can excel at creative and analytical tasks, this is expanding the scope of what AI can automate and augment, such as administrative and problem-solving tasks across all types of jobs.
Overall, technology can be a crucial tool for social progress if harnessed properly. Simply demonizing technology has proven to be the wrong approach. AI can help address fundamental social and labor issues, such as those related to access to healthcare, education, training and social protection.
Additionally, AI is particularly useful for optimizing efficiency, including in workforce management and worker assignments.
AI can help minimize or eliminate routine or repetitive tasks or jobsphysically demanding or dangerous.
However, organizations must ensure that this use of AI is done responsibly, respecting workers’ free choice to perform or improve a task and must not, for example, result in excessively heavy workloads for workers.
1- Automation of repetitive and routine tasks
Artificial intelligence represents a major transformation opportunity for the world of work. It will redistribute tasks, automating simple, repetitive and routine activities and therefore freeing up time for more strategic and higher value-added activities without completely replacing human capital.
However, this transition must be accompanied by concrete measures to prevent an increase in social and economic inequalities. Professionals have a key role to play in supporting employees, by implementing appropriate training programs and ensuring constructive social dialogue, in order to prepare teams for the changes to come, to transform the challenges of AI into opportunities for economic growth and development.
It is worth noting that recent advances in AI have expanded the set of skills and capabilities that can be replicated by automation technologies, thus transforming most professions, since they are able to work with unstructured environments and data, contributing to the automation of even non-routine activities.
2- Improved productivity and efficiency
Labor productivity can be defined as the average economic output that each worker can achieve in a certain period of time. Its level depends on the technologies available to workers, their working environment and human capital.
According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Company estimates that AI could boost global productivity by an annual increase of 0.2% to 3.3% in 2023, depending on adoption rates of the technology.
Thus, productivity growth will be more pronounced in advanced economies, precisely because of the wider adoption of AI.
Growing innovation in AI research holds the promise of increased productivity and new job creation.
II- Risks of artificial intelligence for workers
1- Risks of disappearance or elimination of certain jobs
The direct effect of AI on pre-existing jobs depends on whether the new technology complements or replaces workers’ skills.
In fact, we must first ask ourselves which jobs will disappear or escape human workers to be entrusted to machines, and those which will always be the preserve of humans and remain beyond the reach of machines. As with any new technology, AI raises fears that many jobs will disappear, meaning that many workers will be replaced by robots or software that would perform tasks previously performed by humans more quickly and with greater precision.
In principle, workers in low-income countries are significantly less exposed to AI than those in high-income countries. This is partly explained by :
- The structure of the labor market;
- Jobs involving manual labor;
- Jobs based on human interaction;
- Lack of access to electricity;
- Limited access to the internet.
On the other hand, employees familiar with the company’s methods and specificities will continue to be an asset, as the search and training required to hire new candidates will always be a heavy burden for companies.
In this context, some professions would see their work productivity increase, while others would probably see most of their tasks replaced by AI and would therefore face a much higher risk of job loss.
2- Inequalities in access to new skills and training
The adoption of AI could have a disproportionate and negative impact on socioeconomic groups that have historically faced the most barriers in the labor market.
So, women perform more codifiable and routine tasks than men, Since they are less likely to have a high level of “digital literacy” than men, this gap is largely attributed to socialization, self-confidence and traditional gender norms.
This difference becomes more pronounced with age, as skill development becomes much more difficult when employment is combined with domestic responsibilities, hence a higher risk of job displacement due to automation for women.
Furthermore, AI has the potential to increase barriers to entry for new generations of the workforce due to unequal access to education and opportunities that generate skills complementary to AI.
3- Surveillance and privacy issues at work
Typically, the data used by generative AI is often hosted on foreign servers, raising security and privacy concerns, as regulations may allow host country authorities to access this data.
To this end, companies must be vigilant and consider local or open source hosting solutions to protect their sensitive information.
Employees using these AI tools risk violating privacy laws and confidentiality obligations if they enter confidential or personal information into the tool.
Sensitive data could then be inadvertently disclosed in responses given to other users. Similarly, employers risk violating the privacy rights of certain individuals or the intellectual property of other organizations when using AI-generated results.
III- Opportunities created by artificial intelligence
1- Creation of new professions and sectors of activity
Rather than massively destroying jobs, the advent of artificial intelligence is an opportunity to create new professions and for new roles to emerge as well, such as “prompt engineering,” which involves optimizing requests sent to AI to obtain the best results.
Thus, AI is more likely to augment than destroy jobs, automating certain tasks rather than replacing roles entirely. It therefore has the potential to address human capital shortages in sectors that lack it.
2- Opportunity to increase skills through continuing education
In general, the development and effective use of AI information technologies will require new and specific skills from tomorrow’s workers.
Employees must have the skills to use AI tools to their advantage and augment or strengthen their own capabilities.
The need for skills development concerns investment in digital skills at different levels: basic, intermediate and advanced.
This is why ongoing training for employees will be essential to prepare them for the new demands of professions transformed by AI.
This is a completely new niche that requires a specialized profile of workers.
3- Improvement of working conditions (reduction of arduous tasks)
Indeed, exposure to AI does not necessarily mean that a task, or an entire job, will be replaced by AI.
This exposure can have three consequences :
- Automation : AI takes over some dangerous or arduous tasks entirely, thus reducing the need for human intervention;
- Improvement : AI improves human productivity and allows workers to perform tasks quickly and efficiently, focusing on those with the highest added value;
- Restructuring : AI is changing the scope of a job’s tasks, which may lead to new job descriptions based on different skills.
Either way, AI is capable of performing tasks quickly and efficiently, often with a quality equal to or superior to that of human work, with the prospect of increased productivity combined with lower costs.
Conclusion
While past automation was limited to routine tasks, generative AI’s ability to perform non-routine cognitive tasks exposes previously isolated professions, seen as complements to automation, to substitution.
However, despite their impressive performance, generative AI’s should not be confused with human intelligence.