The Impact of AI on Jobs

Whilst it’s always been around in some form, AI has taken the world by storm in recent years. With it becoming readily available thanks to services like Chat GPT. 

Now, like the industrial revolution, there is concern that AI will begin to impact jobs, removing the need for human touch from some industries entirely. In 2021 it was predicted that ‘7% of jobs were at high risk of being automated in the next 5 years, rising to 30% after 20 years’. That’s a scary statistic.  

On the flip side, new jobs will be created off the back of it. But is this enough to counteract the other impacts AI will have on jobs?  

Impact 1: Less Need for Some Jobs

Impact 2: Changes to Job Requirements

Impact 3: New Job Opportunities

Impact 4: Improvement in Decision-Making

Impact 5: Increase Use of Automation

Impact 6: Need for Soft Skills

Impact 7: Improvement in Performance

FAQs About the Impact of AI on Jobs

7 Impacts of AI on Jobs

As AI is being used more and more around the world, it’s very clear that it is here to stay. But is that good or bad? Below we’ll talk about 7 impacts that AI will have on jobs, discussing the pros and cons of each! 

Impact 1: Less Need for Some Jobs

As many companies adopt AI, roles that are usually done by people are being automated e.g., data entry, customer service and accountancy. And so, there’s a decline in demand for these types of jobs.  

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that people will be out of a job entirely (see Impact 3). 

Impact 2: Changes to Job Requirements

As AI is being used more frequently, the skills required for jobs will need to change. For example, jobs like accountancy or data entry could adopt a more technical approach – like quality control or programming.

And so, workers will need to learn new skills and accommodate these changes. 

Impact 3: New Job Opportunities

It’s quite clear that AI is slowly making some roles obsolete. But it’s not all doom and gloom.  

But why is that?  

Well, AI is creating some new job opportunities. 

Yes, you heard us correctly – AI is actually creating new job roles for people. According to the World Economic Forum, approximately 97 million jobs will be created by 2025.

Impact 4: Improvement in Decision-Making

AI doesn’t have emotions.  

And so, businesses have brought it in to help employees make informed decisions that are based on facts. 

Apparently, we humans need help making these decisions, so they’ve bought in AI to help! 

Impact 5: Increase Use of Automation

According to a report by Goldman Sachs, 46% of tasks in administrative and 44% in legal professions could be automated.

Across the board, automation will increase. 

But the impact of AI will vary depending on the sector, each experiencing its own journey – with some seeing them sooner. 

Something that all sectors will face is job displacement. 

Impact 6: Need for Soft Skills

As AI will be taking over some jobs, soft skills like communication, problem-solving and creativity will be in high demand.  

And so, people can hone their soft skills to do these remaining jobs. 

In summary, AI doesn’t have ‘people skills’, but lucky for us…… we do! 

Impact 7: Improvement in Performance

You’ve probably seen this in a few of our positive impacts that AI can have. 

AI can actually help you improve your performance.  

Imagine this: you give all the repetitive tasks to AI, whilst you dive into bigger projects that have more impact.  

You can actually focus on this work and don’t need to worry about the boring, mundane tasks.   

Frequently Asked Questions About the Impact of AI on Jobs

Understandably, there are a lot of questions around AI. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to answer all of them in this blog, so below are some FAQs about how AI is impacting jobs: 

How is AI Impacting the Workplace? 

AI’s impact on the workplace is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it.  

Here are some ways that AI is impacting the workplace: 

• Both the creation and removal of jobs will change how businesses operate 
• New technology will help improve internal processes, making businesses more efficient. 
• Employees will also be more proficient, so revenue will increase 
• Companies can offer new services, helping them to acquire new customers and retain who they have. 
• Employee retention could improve, with increased profits allowing the potential to improve businesses for employees. AI also can be used to evaluate the risk of employees leaving, giving companies the chance to resolve this before it happens. 

How Will AI Create More Jobs? 

Even though there’s a lot of chatter about AI replacing many jobs, it is still creating new ones. But how? Here are a few ways that AI is, or will, create more jobs: 

• No Emotional Intelligence – so an increase in roles that demand this skillset will occur. Jobs like Advisors, Directors and Managers. 
• Creation of New AI and Processes – with a new tool comes the opportunity for people to build, program and maintain them. 
• Implementation of AI in business – companies will need experts to help them implement AI in business. 
• Natural job growth – with AI enabling companies to acquire new customers, they will grow and this will increase job opportunities.  

These are just a few of the ways on how AI will create more jobs. Maybe we’ll do a full blog on this later! 

What Jobs Are Most at Risk From AI?

Well, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, but A LOT. Different jobs in different sectors are at risk.  

Here are a few jobs that are at risk from AI: 

• Writers 
• Data Analysts 
• Programmers 
• Telemarketers 
• Receptionists 
• Accountants 
• Customer Service Assistants 
• Graphic Designers 

The use of AI is inevitable, with more and more businesses adopting it, making jobs at risk. 

But there are things you can do.  

You can upskill, retrain skills and even adopt AI earlier to make sure you can keep up with the changes. 

What Jobs Are AI Proof?

Yes AI is replacing many jobs.  

But there are still jobs that AI won’t be able to take over. Here are a few examples of jobs that are AI-proof:  

• Social workers 
• Doctors 
• Lawyers 
• Teachers 
• Managers 
• Counselors 
• Therapists  

The similarity between these roles is that all of them deal with people.  

That means they all require soft skills, which are increasing in demand, due to AI. 

And so, the roles that require soft skills are safe. 

What is the Future of Jobs With AI?

Now technically this has all been covered through different perspectives. 

But what really is the future of jobs with AI? AI is still technically new. So, we know what we know and know what we don’t know.  

Does that make sense?  

We know that it will displace some jobs and create others and we know that it will change job requirements. But we don’t know the extent of this.  

Here are some ways the future of jobs will change with AI: 

• More productivity and an enhancement in decision-making 
• Decline in some job roles and the creation of others 
• Changes in job requirements and necessary skills  
• Increased use of automation in some industries 

Summary

AI isn’t going away. In fact, it’s becoming one of the most essential technologies in modern times. So what we have to do now is adapt to the changes AI brings in the workforce and mitigate the potential pitfalls that they bring. 

We’ve already seen the industrial revolution and how this changed how we work. But there is no real way of knowing how many jobs AI will replace. It might replace entire industries, or just streamline our jobs. It’ll be interesting to see how it will impact jobs.  

One thing is for certain – you’ll always need people to make AI work. 

So the question is: ‘Are the Impacts of AI Good or Bad?’ 

We recruit for a variety of jobs that either use AI or aren’t going to be impacted by AI. Go check out our current jobs!