How booming AI will affect jobs and businesses
In just a few months, artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from a tech issue to a concern for everyone. A global survey shows 21% of CEOs think AI will significantly impact their industry over the next three years. The head of OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, told a US senate hearing that US regulators should have the power to licence and audit AI models. With big tech competing in promoting AI services, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Review reports on how AI adoption could come from the free, open-source models that are now “reasonably close” in performance to proprietary models from Google and ChatGPT.
“The possibility that powerful AI tools could be accessible to anyone at little cost has massive ramifications for the tech ecosystem, and society as a whole”, MIT Review reported.
Discussing how AI will affect jobs, World Economic Forum reported from its recent growth summit that AI is unlikely to be able to replace jobs requiring human skills such as judgement, creativity, physical dexterity and emotional intelligence.
“The highest job growth in 2023-2027 is expected to be for agricultural equipment operators, drivers of heavy trucks and buses, and vocational education teachers.”
FUTURE SKILLS
“The skills most in demand from employers over the next five years will include analytical thinking, empathy and active listening, and leadership and social influence.”
WEF asked ChatGPT: “What jobs will AI be unable to replace?”:
- Jobs that require human judgement and decision-making
- Jobs that require complex and nuanced communication.
WEF reports ChatGPT also said that AI will not displace jobs that require:
- Social and emotional intelligence
- Creativity and innovation
- Physical dexterity and mobility.
“Generative AI will profoundly impact business and operating models,” says Mark Raskino, VP Analyst at market research firm Gartner.
“However, fear of missing out is a powerful driver of technology markets. AI is reaching the tipping point where CEOs who are not yet invested become concerned that they are missing something competitively important.”
SHORT RECESSION
The company’s survey comprises over 400 CEOs and other senior business executives in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and South Africa.
Gartner says more than half of CEOs believe an economic downturn or recession in 2023 will be shallow and short. The survey showed only a modest rise in cash flow, capital and fundraising concerns.
Half of CEOs cited growth as the top strategic business priority for the next two years. Technology also remains a top focus area for CEOs, closely followed by workforce issues.
Inflation was ranked as the most damaging business risk by 22% of CEOs, and nearly a quarter cited greater price sensitivity as the biggest shift in customer expectations they anticipate this year.
However, increasing prices is still the top action that CEOs are taking in response to inflation (44%), followed by cost optimization (36%) and productivity, efficiency and automation (21%), the survey says.
When asked about the impact of various risks on the business, 26% of CEOs cited the talent shortage as the most damaging risk for their organization.
AI GUIDELINES
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI that created ChatGPT launched late last year, testified before the US Congress saying regulators should be empowered to licence and audit AI models. He thinks AI firms should be given “guidelines about what’s expected in terms of disclosure”.
European Parliament’s committees recently agreed on a proposal for rules on how AI can be used including the right for citizens to complain about how it has been used.
The MIT Review writes about a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, that said out loud what many in Silicon Valley must have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Big Tech’s grip on AI.
“New open-source large language models—alternatives to Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT that researchers and app developers can study, build on, and modify—are dropping like candy from a piñata. These are smaller, cheaper versions of the best-in-class AI models created by the big firms that (almost) match them in performance—and they’re shared for free.”
“In many ways, that’s a good thing. Greater access to these models has helped drive innovation—it can also help catch their flaws. AI won’t thrive if just a few mega-rich companies get to gatekeep this technology or decide how it is used.”
“But this open-source boom is precarious. Most open-source releases still stand on the shoulders of giant models put out by big firms with deep pockets. If OpenAI and Meta decide they’re closing up shop, a boomtown could become a backwater.”
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