The Rise of AI: How Artificial Intelligence is Impacting the Job Market

2023 is the year of artificial intelligence (AI) finally becoming more than a futuristic movie concept. While the concept of AI was first broadly introduced as early as the 1950s, the last decade has seen incredible advancements and leaps in its adoption. From personalized shopping recommendations on popular eCommerce websites to smartphone digital assistants, AI has made its way into the hands of everyday consumers.

The accessibility of AI has changed the world. For example, when ChatGPT launched open access in January 2023 as the first consumer-friendly AI chatbot, the platform gained 100 million users in just a few months, setting a record for the fastest-growing user base. The news exploded with headlines claiming AI was about to impact jobs and reshape society, and now, several months later, we can see some immediate aftereffects of the widespread adoption of AI.

The Rise of AI

It feels like AI is everywhere these days. Since 2000, the number of AI companies has increased 14X . Businesses are even racing to develop and patent their own proprietary AI tools like machine learning programs, algorithms, computer vision systems, and more. From 2011 to 2017, AI patent filings grew by 6.5X.

AI is not only shaking the business landscape but the job market as well. While many workers fear the negative impacts of AI on the job market, its positive side effects will undoubtedly shape the economy for years to come.

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RELATED: Jobs AI Won’t Replace In The Near Future

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 The Positive Effects of AI on Jobs

AI is poised to have positive effects on both jobs and the job market, creating brand new roles and positions and improving employee productivity.

1. Increased Productivity and Efficiency

A total of 61 percent of employees said that the increased use of AI increased their productivity. AI tools help with manual, repetitive tasks that allow human employees to focus on more complex, advanced problems, while simpler tasks are automated. Employees are equipped to work smarter, which helps them do more in less time.

2. Increased Overall Business Revenue

When employers can get more done in less time, they can increase their margins. This extra profit can be invested in people, new technology, inventory, growth initiatives, or additional headcount.

3. The Rise of the AI Job Market

Artificial intelligence is expected to create 97 million new jobs. These new roles could range from AI prompt engineers to machine learning engineers to automation experts and more. It’s hard to predict exactly what new industries and jobs will emerge because of AI, but it may be like how the adoption of computers created entire industries supporting them. AI will inevitably expand the job market, focusing on technical skills and workers familiar with AI.

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How industries can leverage AI

Here’s a breakdown of how several industries can use artificial intelligence to gain a competitive advantage, please more customers, and strengthen their revenue streams. 

Customer service

Conversational and generative AI systems like ChatGPT can be very effective customer service tools because they can interact with customers without human intervention. You can do this using a process called fine-tuning.

With fine-tuning, your company first sets up access to a GPT application programming interface (API). You then collect and clean training data, such as product information and specs. The language model then runs the data you provide through machine learning processes. This enables the model to learn how to reply to customer questions.

Throughout this process, you can guide the AI regarding how to produce the most relevant replies to customers. Once you’ve completed the training, you can then integrate your GPT or similar model into your customer support system.

Human resources (HR) and recruitment

Qualified candidates may shy away from applying for a position due to a lack of information, but you can use AI to get them the info they need.

For example, instead of merely providing a job description, list of duties, and desired skills, an HR department could train a generative AI model with information pertaining to:

• Recent projects that can help give candidates a better understanding of the kind of work they’d be doing
• Steps candidates can take to improve their chances of success once hired, such as performance stats applicable to their position or the average number of days worked per year for the most successful team members
• The most common mistakes new employees make in their first year, so recruits can avoid repeating them

HR can also use artificial intelligence to interview candidates. The model could choose specific questions based on the candidate’s potential role and hypothetical examples that align with common tasks.

Real estate

A real estate company could use AI models to answer client questions about properties. After using fine-tuning to train the model (described above), realtors could have it answer questions such as, “How has the value of this property fluctuated over the past five years?”

You could also link a language model to a relatively simple database, such as one with meta-tagged pictures of properties. You could then have it provide answers to more detailed, specific questions, such as, “How does the front entrance look as the sun’s rising on a clear day?”

Challenges With Artificial Intelligence

Despite its usefulness, one of the biggest concerns about AI is its potential impact on privacy. AI systems collect and analyze large amounts of data, which raises questions about how this data will be used and protected.

Other concerns around morality, accuracy, bias and more will continue to shape public opinion and the infrastructure around AI. In fact, a total of 65 percent of consumers have supposedly lost trust in organizations due to their AI practice, and 76 percent want the ability to opt out of AI use by applications. A similar 75 percent are anxious for legal AI ethics management programs to implement safeguards.

As businesses race to adopt AI into their workflows, it’s imperative that keep consumer opinion in mind and make the necessary considerations around privacy and security.

Is Artificial Intelligence Really Replacing Jobs?

This is a complex question with no easy answer. AI and automation will almost certainly continue to make its way into our working lives, but the overall net impact of its implementation is expected to be positive.

Some jobs may be enhanced by the automation of mundane task, new jobs will be created, and employees will have the opportunity to focus on more meaningful and creative tasks. Ultimately, the extent of AI’s impact on jobs is still uncertain and will depend on various factors, like industry, job type, and the ability of individuals and organizations to effectively adapt to technological advancements as they come.