Do you remember watching movies that depicted a future where robots take over the world?
Those dystopian scenes have transitioned from the realms of fiction to current reality, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) leading the charge. Generative AI, once a surprise element for businesses, has evolved into a contemporary necessity.
Companies worldwide have embraced generative AI for various business operations, encompassing customer service, content generation, marketing, sales, IT, and even HR. However, what initially appeared as a blessing is gradually turning into a curse for employees, as reports of AI replacing human roles surface across different industries.
The pressing question is whether AI technology is efficient enough to replace employees in the long run, or if it's merely a bandwagon that global companies are jumping on.
Let’s delve into this mystery and uncover the truth, supported by compelling facts.
44% of Companies will Replace Employees with AI in 2024- (Resume Builder, November 2023)
To unearth the truth, Resume Builder conducted a comprehensive survey among approximately eight hundred business leaders currently utilizing generative technology or planning to incorporate AI in the upcoming year.
The findings revealed that more than half (53%) of the companies are already leveraging AI for various business functions. Unfortunately, the integration of AI resulted in the downsizing of approximately one-third of their employees this year. Furthermore, 24% of employers plan to enhance their business efficiency by implementing AI in 2024.
Overall, 44% of the companies currently using or planning to adopt AI believe that AI implementations will probably (23%) or certainly (21%) lead to employee layoffs.
89 Million Jobs will be Lost by 2027- (The Future of Jobs, May 2023)
The yearly report from the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Future of Jobs has left job-seekers contemplating their future. The survey disclosed that approximately 69 million jobs are anticipated to be created in the upcoming five years. However, the startling prediction from the report is the potential destruction of over 89 million jobs globally.
This implies a net loss of 14 million jobs compared to the current available positions. The prime reason for this worrying prediction is Artificial Intelligence, which is quickly spreading across various industries and slowly taking over human jobs.
AI Can Automate 60% to 70% Workloads of Employees- (McKinsey, June 2023)
McKinsey’s latest report indicates that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can currently automate 60-70% of employee workloads, which is a 10–20% increase compared to 2017.
Analyzing the impact of generative AI on business functions, McKinsey predicts that the technology is likely to achieve human-level performance sooner than anticipated, enabling it to generate up to $4.4 trillion across different industries.
The business functions expected to be primarily affected by generative AI include customer operations, marketing & sales, software engineering, and research and development, accounting for approximately 75% of the total annual value generated from these functions alone.
This suggests that AI’s natural-language capabilities are improving over time, and cognitive computing has the potential to replace humans in various roles.
AI Replaced 4000+ Jobs in May Alone- (Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., May 2023)
Data from the May 2023 Challenger Report sheds light on the damage that AI has been inflicting long before its full impact was realized.
According to the firm, companies across the United States announced 80,089 layoffs in May due to the integration of AI into business processes. The increase in job cuts was 20% higher than the previous month, April, indicating the accelerating rate at which bots are being preferred over human employees.
Regarding industries, the most significant downsizing has been observed in the Information Technology (IT) sector, witnessing a loss of 136,831 jobs this year—marking the most extensive layoffs in the past two decades.
Way Forward? Become Smarter than AI.
At this point, you might be contemplating how to become smarter than AI, especially when you rely on it for most information, ideas, and suggestions.
While ChatGPT may indeed possess vast knowledge, you, as a human, hold the remarkable ability to generate, evaluate, and ideate situations and tasks based on logic, facts, emotions, and reasoning. On the contrary, AI lacks the innate human qualities of intuition, creativity, and emotional understanding. Therefore, the comparison between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Intelligence becomes inherently incomparable.
Nevertheless, it's crucial to acknowledge that bots can efficiently process vast amounts of data, recognize patterns, and perform tasks efficiently compared to humans. When observed keenly, generative AI is a blessing in disguise. Humans can intelligently leverage the efficiency of AI and benefit from its capabilities to simplify their tasks. Undoubtedly, human intelligence combined with artificial intelligence can pave the way for groundbreaking advancements.
As we step into an era dominated by technological advancements, the collaboration between human creativity and AI efficiency holds the key to navigating the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The continuous collaboration between human intelligence and AI can lead to remarkable progress, where the strengths of both complement each other, creating a future that is not about humans versus machines but humans working alongside machines for unprecedented success.
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