In a time of mounting concern about the possible effects of the technology, a UN study released on Monday found that artificial intelligence is more likely to enhance jobs than to eliminate them.
The introduction of ChatGPT, a platform for generative AI that can handle complex tasks on demand, in November was heralded as a technological milestone portending a potentially seismic shift in the nature of labor.
However, a recent study from the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations reveals that the majority of jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation. The study looked at the possible impact of that and other platforms on job number and quality.
The ILO stated that the majority are “more likely to be complemented rather than replaced by the latest wave of generative AI, such as ChatGPT.”
Therefore, rather than causing job losses, new technology is more likely to result in changes to employment quality, particularly in the areas of work intensity and autonomy.
The report also warned that women were more likely than males to see their careers disrupted, and that the effects of technology will vary dramatically between professions and geographic areas.
It was discovered that administrative work had the highest amount of technology exposure, with roughly a quarter of tasks being highly exposed and more than half having a medium level of exposure.
Only a small portion of jobs were found to be highly exposed in other occupational groups, such as managers and technicians, while about a quarter had medium exposure levels, according to the ILO.
In the meanwhile, the analysis suggested that higher-income nations will be most affected by automation because of the significant proportion of clerical and paraprofessional employment in their labor markets.
It was discovered that only 0.4% of employment in low-income nations was potentially subject to the automating impacts of generative AI, compared to a whole 5.5% of total employment in high-income countries.
In addition, the study revealed that because women are overrepresented in clerical work, particularly in high- and middle-income nations, the share of employment that could be affected by automation was more than twice as high for women as it was for males.
The potential for augmentation was determined to be virtually similar across nations, despite Monday’s analysis showing considerable disparities in the potential impact on AI-generated job losses between wealthy and impoverished countries.
According to the ILO, this indicates that “with the right policies in place, this new wave of technological transformation could offer significant benefits for developing countries.”
Although automating repetitive jobs to make time for more interesting work could be a sign of progress, it was cautioned that augmentation “can also be implemented in a way that limits workers’ agency or accelerates work intensity.”
The authors of the report emphasized that “outcomes of the technological transition are not predetermined” and that as a result, nations should develop policies to assist a “orderly, fair, and consultative” transition.