Amid pessimism about AI job destruction, a more optimistic view is beginning to emerge, with workers being urged to take advantage of the opportunities.
A UK government report last year found that between 10% and 30% of jobs could be lost due to automation, while similar research from Goldman Sachs in early 2023 found that up to 300 million jobs could be lost. become obsolete due to AI.
However, earlier this year, Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, told the bbc that AI will not be a “massive job killer,” suggesting that both companies and employees adopt a more optimistic outlook on the use of the technology.
“I am an economic historian, before I became a central banker. Economies adapt, jobs adapt and we learn to work with it,” he said. “And I think you get better results with people with machines than with machines alone. So I'm optimistic.”
Bailey said almost a third of companies had told the bank they had made significant investments in AI over the past year and expected to see productivity benefits soon.
Certainly, AI jobs are increasing and AI skills are in high demand amid concerns that the pace of innovation in this space will put significant pressure on talent pools both in the UK and elsewhere. .
Recent research from AWS and Access Partnership, for example, found that some employers are willing to pay a 31% premium for IT workers with AI experience.
AI skills in sales, marketing and finance attracted 27% higher salaries, while business operations, legal and HR generated salary increases of 26%, 25% and 24% respectively.
Major technology companies, including Google, AWS and Microsoft, have outlined plans to invest heavily in the coming years to support AI skills training.
Last year, Microsoft said it planned to invest billions in both expanding data center infrastructure and supporting skills development across the UK, while Google in February revealed plans to spend millions of dollars on skills training across Europe.
A key recurring concern among some sectors of the tech workforce, specifically those in developer roles, has been the possibility of AI making some aspects of their roles obsolete.
Some industry stakeholders have warned that increasingly powerful code generation tools could eventually replace human workers, but so far there is little evidence to suggest this will happen.
Jane Gormley, director of employer engagement at Code Institute, said developers should see the increased demand for AI talent as an opportunity to capitalize on this latest technology trend and develop relevant, future-proof skills.
“Demand for AI knowledge and skills is increasing in many sectors. The discourse surrounding AI as a 'job destroyer' has been rightly silenced by a key institution. While there may be some change, the new opportunities that emerge from AI will outweigh the negative ones,” he said.
“In the developer space, engineers will see an increase in demand for AI expertise. Increased investment in AI means developers will be needed to build and maintain powerful AI infrastructures and products, either as part or as an central responsibility of their daily roles.”
There are calls for the government to do more to support training to safeguard jobs in the age of AI.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, for example, recently warned that without government action and with businesses left to fend for themselves, around 7.9 million jobs could be lost across the country. without compensatory gains for GDP.
The IPPR called on the government to develop an industrial strategy for jobs-focused AI, with tax incentives or subsidies to encourage the use of AI to improve jobs rather than displace them.
