AI has been labeled a job killer as it replaces humans with robots for a wide range of work roles. Although thousands of jobs currently performed by humans will be handed over to tech tools that can handle them more efficiently and cheaper, experts predict that AI and the resulting “smart automation” will ultimately create more jobs than it eliminates.
The World Economic Forum predicts that automation and technology will eliminate 85 million jobs by 2025 while creating 97 million new jobs, a net gain of 12 million. Data entry, bookkeeping and payroll, and client information and customer service jobs are expected to disappear. The need for data analysts, digital marketing and strategy specialists and digital transformation specialists is expected to increase.
While call center jobs could decline, additional B2B sales jobs should be created simply by the creation of new companies that will offer AI-powered services.
“I think this technology is incredibly exciting. I think it’s going to result in a lot of short-term anxiety, but medium and long-term prosperity,” Scott Galloway, an entrepreneur, marketing professor at NYU Stern School of Business and co-host of the tech-focused Pivot podcast. “The number of businesses that could be started using this technology can make you giddy if you really start thinking about it.”
A PricewaterhouseCoopers AI study projects that AI will lead to an estimated $15.7 trillion (26%) increase in global GDP by 2030. The onus will be on business leaders to reconfigure training programs to help workers acquire both the digital and softer skills that will be demanded in the new age, the PwC report states.
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