AFP
January 13, 2024
Humanoid AI robot Ameca, by Engineered Arts, attended the UN artificial intelligence summit in Geneva. — AFP Emma McIntyre
Nathalie OLOF-ORS
Artificial intelligence raises serious concerns for jobs but it will also create new positions, the head of Adecco, the world’s biggest temporary staffing agency, told AFP.
From meteorologists to lawyers and screenwriters, generative AI capable of creating content — such as the chatbot ChatGPT — could change the contours of many professions.
But it will also create new positions, according to Denis Machuel, the chief executive of Zurich-based Adecco.
– How will AI disrupt the world of work? –
Machuel: “It’s probably the largest disruption and revolution that we’ve seen in decades. It’s going to be massive. And let’s be clear, no one really knows or can really anticipate with a precise view what’s going to happen in the next five years.
“All this productivity enhancement helps people do more but also destroys some of the jobs people are doing. There is definitely an element of jobs being created and jobs that are being destroyed. We’ve seen that with the internet, with digitalisation.
“What we’ve seen in the past tells us that there is more or less a balance between the two.
“Technology brings a lot of better understanding of interaction between people and markets but it also brings complexity. And that complexity requires more people to deal with it.
“GenAI will bring productivity on one side but it will also bring more proof-points, more data, more ways of looking at relationships, products and services. And for all these, we need people.”
– Are some jobs more at risk than others? –
Machuel: “It’s probably a bit too early to precisely describe jobs that are fundamentally at risk. Because we have to look at the tasks behind them.
“If you only compute information, gather information and synthesise it, then your job is at risk, be it a job in finance, in legal, in business, because… it is what GenAI does.
“Probably white-collar workers will be more impacted than blue-collar workers — at least in the short term.
“Within the white collar space, the things that are linked to massive information management will be more disrupted than the skills that are linked to relationship building, to strategic thinking or problem-solving.
“However, we know that there are limits.
“Take the example of a lawyer or of a paralegal: computing an immense number of legal decisions can be done by GenAI.
“However, the deep and subtle understanding of a complex legal situation and problem-solving skills that are needed to put things together is still very human-related.
“Usually, the sort of mundane tasks that can be automated are not the most exciting for people to do. So if you can automate that, it gives you more time to concentrate on the nicer things.”
– How is AI used at Adecco? –
“We’ve signed a partnership with Microsoft to create a career platform that will advise companies and workers on their path, supporting their reflection on the type of skills and jobs they could go for.
“Opening horizons on things people didn’t necessarily imagine but could be achievable for them.
“There are quite a few workers whose skills are transferable.
“The good news about GenAI is that there is a positive explosion of possibilities of upskilling and re-skilling through these tools.
“We’ve created a curriculum vitae maker with an AI-powered tool that helps people generate their own CV.
“On the daily tasks of our recruiters, I was mentioning this chatbot that interacts with thousands of candidates very quickly.
“It gives the possibility for our recruiters to spend more time in the human relationship, and not in a database search.
“That means a recruiter can spend more time with people than doing the mundane tasks.”
Artificial intelligence raises serious concerns for jobs but it will also create new positions, the head of Adecco, the world’s biggest temporary staffing agency, told AFP.
From meteorologists to lawyers and screenwriters, generative AI capable of creating content — such as the chatbot ChatGPT — could change the contours of many professions.
But it will also create new positions, according to Denis Machuel, the chief executive of Zurich-based Adecco.
– How will AI disrupt the world of work? –
Machuel: “It’s probably the largest disruption and revolution that we’ve seen in decades. It’s going to be massive. And let’s be clear, no one really knows or can really anticipate with a precise view what’s going to happen in the next five years.
“All this productivity enhancement helps people do more but also destroys some of the jobs people are doing. There is definitely an element of jobs being created and jobs that are being destroyed. We’ve seen that with the internet, with digitalisation.
“What we’ve seen in the past tells us that there is more or less a balance between the two.
“Technology brings a lot of better understanding of interaction between people and markets but it also brings complexity. And that complexity requires more people to deal with it.
“GenAI will bring productivity on one side but it will also bring more proof-points, more data, more ways of looking at relationships, products and services. And for all these, we need people.”
– Are some jobs more at risk than others? –
Machuel: “It’s probably a bit too early to precisely describe jobs that are fundamentally at risk. Because we have to look at the tasks behind them.
“If you only compute information, gather information and synthesise it, then your job is at risk, be it a job in finance, in legal, in business, because… it is what GenAI does.
“Probably white-collar workers will be more impacted than blue-collar workers — at least in the short term.
“Within the white collar space, the things that are linked to massive information management will be more disrupted than the skills that are linked to relationship building, to strategic thinking or problem-solving.
“However, we know that there are limits.
“Take the example of a lawyer or of a paralegal: computing an immense number of legal decisions can be done by GenAI.
“However, the deep and subtle understanding of a complex legal situation and problem-solving skills that are needed to put things together is still very human-related.
“Usually, the sort of mundane tasks that can be automated are not the most exciting for people to do. So if you can automate that, it gives you more time to concentrate on the nicer things.”
– How is AI used at Adecco? –
“We’ve signed a partnership with Microsoft to create a career platform that will advise companies and workers on their path, supporting their reflection on the type of skills and jobs they could go for.
“Opening horizons on things people didn’t necessarily imagine but could be achievable for them.
“There are quite a few workers whose skills are transferable.
“The good news about GenAI is that there is a positive explosion of possibilities of upskilling and re-skilling through these tools.
“We’ve created a curriculum vitae maker with an AI-powered tool that helps people generate their own CV.
“On the daily tasks of our recruiters, I was mentioning this chatbot that interacts with thousands of candidates very quickly.
“It gives the possibility for our recruiters to spend more time in the human relationship, and not in a database search.
“That means a recruiter can spend more time with people than doing the mundane tasks.”
IMF chief says AI holds risks, ‘tremendous opportunity’ for global economy
AFP
January 14, 2024
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva tells AFP in an interview that artificial intelligence poses job security risks but potentially major opportunities to boost productivity around the world -
Daniel AVIS
Artificial intelligence poses risks to job security around the world but also offers a “tremendous opportunity” to boost flagging productivity levels and fuel global growth, the IMF chief told AFP.
AI will affect 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in an interview in Washington, shortly before departing for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
With AI expected to have less effect in developing countries, around “40 percent of jobs globally are likely to be impacted,” she said, citing a new IMF report.
“And the more you have higher skilled jobs, the higher the impact,” she added.
However, the IMF report published Sunday evening notes that only half of the jobs impacted by AI will be negatively affected; the rest may actually benefit from enhanced productivity gains due to AI.
“Your job may disappear altogether -– not good –- or artificial intelligence may enhance your job, so you actually will be more productive and your income level may go up,” Georgieva said.
– Uneven effects –
The IMF report predicted that, while labor markets in emerging markets and developing economies will see a smaller initial impact from AI, they are also less likely to benefit from the enhanced productivity that will arise through its integration in the workplace.
“We must focus on helping low income countries in particular to move faster to be able to catch the opportunities that artificial intelligence will present,” Georgieva told AFP.
“So artificial intelligence, yes, a little scary. But it is also a tremendous opportunity for everyone,” she said.
The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly on track to meet its previous forecasts, she said.
It is “poised for a soft landing,” she said, adding that “monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done.”
“So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow,” she said.
The global economy could use an AI-related productivity boost, as the IMF predicts it will continue growing at historically muted levels over the medium term.
“God, how much we need it,” Georgieva said. “Unless we figure out a way to unlock productivity, we as the world are not for a great story.”
– ‘Tough’ year ahead –
Georgieva said 2024 is likely to be “a very tough year” for fiscal policy worldwide, as countries look to tackle debt burdens accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and rebuild depleted buffers.
Billions of people are also due to go to the polls this year, putting additional pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.
“About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles,” she added.
The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the hard-won progress they have made in the fight against high inflation.
“If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride,” she added.
– Concentrating on the job –
Georgieva, whose five-year term at the IMF’s helm is set to end this year, refused to be drawn on whether she intends to run for a second stint leading the international financial institution.
“I have a job to do right now and my concentration is on doing that job,” she said.
“It has been a tremendous privilege to be the head of the IMF during a very turbulent time, and I can tell you I’m quite proud of how the institution coped,” she continued.
“But let me do what is in front of me right now.”
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