AI Takeover: Will This Lead to Less Hiring?

Will AI Lead to Less Hiring?

Explore the challenges, gender disparities and contrasting perspectives on the AI takeover and its impact on employment today.

Interpreting the job market on a normal year is no easy feat, let alone when accounting for AI integrations. With this in mind, a pressing question looms over leaders: Will AI lead to a reduction in hiring within the technology sector? 

From shifts in skill requirements to the emergence of new job roles, we explore the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead as the interplay between AI and employment continues.

The AI takeover

1. AI takeover: a statistical overview
2. AI takeover: insights and anticipated challenges
3. Real-world AI integration

AI takeover: a statistical overview

With the rise in generative AI integration within different industries and sectors, organisations have been quick to adapt and adopt new technologies in order to streamline their business processes and demonstrate their technological prowess.

You may recall that in the summer of 2023, SAG-AFTRA began their strikes to dispute an AI proposal made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that would allow AI developers to create a digital likeness of actors—essentially creating a carbon copy that could be used over and over again without ever needing the actor to be present in the first place. 

In addition to this, new findings revealed that women may be more vulnerable to AI job displacement than men—with women 50 percent more likely than men to face job losses; millions of roles were also predicted to be automated by 2030. This calls to attention the gender disparity and need for more discussions around fair and equitable workforce transformation. 

Take a look at some of the most recent statistics on AI in the job market:

• “1 in 5 American workers have a job with “high exposure” to artificial intelligence” — Pew Research Center.
• “30% of workers worldwide fear that AI might replace their jobs within the next three years?” — SEO AI
• “32% of workers in information and technology say AI will help more than hurt them personally, compared with 11% who say it will hurt more than it helps.” — Pew Research Center
• “While 95% of workers see value in working with gen AI, approximately 60% are also concerned about job loss, stress and burnout.” — Accenture
• “By 2025 it’s predicted that there will be a job demand of 97 million people in AI-related industries.” — Search Logistics

AI takeover: insights and anticipated challenges

Opinions differ when it comes to AI-business integration. . Some people are all for it and see it as an exciting opportunity, while others will view it as more of a hostile takeover.

In two recent Studio roundtable discussions, industry leaders delved into the future of AI and its potential impact on the workforce, aiming to understand implications and address the challenges associated with AI integration in the workplace.

Despite concerns voiced by leading voices such as Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, the panellists believed that generative AI-driven technologies, rooted in LLMs, hold the potential to bolster human resources, enhance work quality and create significant business value.

However, leaders also recognise the inherent risks associated with generative AI—such as biassed, unethical systems producing misinformation—leading to large-scale job displacement and perpetuating human distrust of technology. 

CIO of DP World, Que Tran, voiced these concerns: “With new emerging technologies, there’s a huge unknown, that causes us uncertainty - and to react in certain ways.”

“Is it a replacing technology; as in, it's going to replace my role, my job, my industry? Or is it an enabling or complementary technology?”

Addressing this question, speakers at another panel looked at the deeper concerns surrounding the AI takeover. Inherent fear of technology dates back to the Industrial Revolution—Ian Cohen, Chief Product & Information Officer, Acaium Group, explained that this fear also stemmed from drastic transformations.

The legal sector exemplifies the challenges induced by AI, manifesting in the scarcity of entry-level roles owing to AI’s proliferation in lower-tier tasks, which traditionally initiated young professionals into the industry. This raises crucial issues regarding how upcoming workers can develop essential skills in an AI-dominated environment.

“It's real, it's a challenge. And it's possibly one of the things that we don't talk enough about, because part of the employee experience was coming to work and learning and interacting with people and developing as an individual. If those tasks—if those things don't exist for you as a person. What happens?”

Real-world AI integration

Will the increase in AI integration lead to less hires? 

There is no single answer to this; a McKinsey report from 2023 stated that generative AI would automate up to 70 percent of employee workloads—making life much easier for some, not to mention creating more new jobs for those in technology. In other cases, AI is rapidly replacing and automating roles such as customer service, administrative and even legal jobs. 

A leak-free government platform 

In an interview for the Infinite Intelligence Community event, Elizabeth Akorita highlighted the technological infrastructure of her organisation, which serves 16,000 users across 13 government divisions. Central to this support structure is a secure chat platform, previously known as "Bing Chat Enterprise'' and currently akin to GPT-4. It is specially designed with enterprise-grade security measures, such as firewall protection, ensuring sensitive company information remains confidential.

Flippin’ fries with AI

In Pasadena, California, a local restaurant is integrating AI and robots into their daily operations, changing the game for the fast food experience. At the forefront of this technological convergence is the utilisation of automated solutions such as Cucina's grill robot and Miso Robotics' "Flippy," which, you guessed it, flips burgers. It does not stop at robot chefs—the restaurant’s ordering system uses an AI facial recognition software to keep track of customers.

A chatbot named Billie

Ingka Group, Ikea's largest retailer, has effectively implemented the AI-powered chatbot called Billie, successfully managing 47 percent of customer inquiries (3.2 million interactions). Notably, this innovation allows their 8,500 workers to reallocate their skills to roles with greater value-add, like remote selling, culminating in job creation and improved worker enrichment, according to Ingka Group's Global People & Culture Manager, Ulrika Biesert.

These real-world examples of AI taking on actual roles exemplify the dual nature of AI replacing jobs — bringing about both positive and negative consequences. 

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