The AI Revolution What You Need to Know
The era of artificial intelligence has dawned, and your job may be at stake.
You’ve likely heard a variation of this statement in 2023, especially following the celebrated emergence of “ChatGPT,” the platform introduced by “OpenAI,” along with a plethora of other AI applications. Artificial intelligence, or AI, has become a global phenomenon and discussion topic, not just for employees concerned about their professional futures, but also for economists, computer scientists, politicians, educators, legal experts, sociologists, and even philosophers. Everyone is searching for clues to predict AI’s impact on the future of humanity working to harness it for maximum benefit while preparing to mitigate any potential downsides. With all these rapid developments, you might feel uneasy, regardless of where you are in your career journey. You may be wondering: Is it really this critical? Could I be replaced by AI at work? How can I leverage these technologies to achieve more success in my career? Or am I better off changing my academic or career path?
In this article, we aim to shed light on artificial intelligence, with a specific focus on generative AI and its potential impact on the future of work. This will help you gain a clearer understanding of the bigger picture. However, rest assured, this won’t be our last article on AI. Given the rapid evolution and leaps of this emerging technology, discussions about its impact on careers and the workplace will continue for many years to come.
What Do You Need to Know About AI?
When you hear the term “artificial intelligence,” you might initially imagine robots performing human tasks, like those you’ve seen in Hollywood movies. However, the reality is far more profound.
First, let’s clarify what artificial intelligence means. AI is an extensive branch of computer science focused on building software that enable machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These tasks often involve abilities such as learning, reasoning, inference, and deduction. AI achieves these capabilities through mathematical equations and complex algorithms, allowing it to learn from data.
As technology has advanced, AI’s capabilities have grown. It can now process vast amounts of data and possess more complex abilities, such as pattern recognition, language understanding, offering suggestions, problem-solving, and decision-making in various situations.
Although the term “artificial intelligence” first appeared in the 1950s, the technology gained significant momentum over the past two decades. It has silently infiltrated various aspects of our lives. It’s there when you use navigation apps to reach your destination, or when a search engine suggests a relevant website. It’s the engine behind social media platforms showing you posts matching your interests, and customer service chatbots on websites that can answer your inquiries. It’s also present in facial recognition systems used in security and banking to detect suspicious activities.
However, most AI systems used in these technologies are designed for specific tasks or a limited range of functions. This year, a different type of AI has emerged: generative AI. It’s capable of creating unique content, such as text, images, videos, or audio, based on the patterns and data it has learned.
When we mention the words “machines” or “machine” in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), we’re not necessarily referring to robots in the traditional sense. This term can also encompass systems or software running on computers or mobile devices.
To dive deeper into the concept of AI and how generative AI works, it’s essential to grasp some key terms in this field. First among them is “machine learning,” which forms the foundation of artificial intelligence. Through machine learning, computer programs are enhanced with algorithms and mathematical equations that enable them to learn from the data they are fed. They can then analyze, connect, and utilize this data, leveraging their newfound knowledge to make suggestions, solve problems, or make decisions.
Following this is “deep learning,” a subset of machine learning that relies on complex, multi-layered algorithms known as artificial neural networks. These networks emulate the workings of the human brain, allowing AI systems to analyze and understand vast amounts of data, recognize patterns more effectively, and provide solutions to more complex problems. Deep learning also enables AI to learn faster and improve itself without extensive human intervention, albeit within certain limitations.
With the increasing power of computers in recent years, the availability of massive datasets, and advancements in training techniques, AI systems based on deep learning have evolved. One notable development is the emergence of “large language models” (LLMs), with ChatGPT by OpenAI being one such platform.
These models primarily rely on Natural Language Processing (NLP), another crucial element in machine learning. NLP enhances a computer program’s ability to learn, analyze, and generate human language. It has created communication channels between humans and machines, enabling machines to perform tasks such as translation, spell-checking, and acting as the backbone of chatbots. The quality of a language model improves with the volume and diversity of the data it’s trained on, as well as the accuracy of the learning algorithms used during training.
We can consider ChatGPT a highly advanced chatbot with immense AI capabilities. It relies on deep learning to recognize patterns, structures, and relationships within a given language, allowing it to perform a variety of natural language processing tasks, such as text analysis, generation, and translation, as well as answering questions in a conversational manner. ChatGPT has been trained on a massive dataset, including books, articles, websites, and various sources, enabling it to create entirely unique texts in a matter of seconds with reasonably high quality. Some have used it to compose entire novels, write code, summarize long texts, assist in research, or plan projects, among many other applications.
The emergence of ChatGPT has opened the door to a limitless number of generative AI applications. It signaled the start of a race among major technology companies to build the optimal large language model. The scope of content generation isn’t limited to text; generative AI can also create images, videos, and audio content that, at first glance, is indistinguishable from human-made content. Just recently in 2023, OpenAI announced a new development for ChatGPT, allowing it to accept image and voice inputs when answering questions, expanding its creative possibilities even further.
AI and the Future of Work: Inevitable Impact That Can be Harnessed
There are fears that AI could lead to the loss of millions of jobs worldwide in the future. Previously, these concerns were primarily limited to blue-collar jobs such as factory workers, farmers, or warehouse staff, and other professions that involved physical effort and repetitive routine tasks that could be performed by AI-powered robots or machines, like driving cars or delivering goods to customers. However, with the emergence of generative AI, these concerns have expanded to include white-collar jobs that were previously deemed safe, such as programming, writing, and other professions that involve working with content like texts, images, or videos. Some tasks that once required an entire team and long hours can now be completed in minutes or even seconds.
History teaches us that any new technology will face initial challenges before being accepted by a larger population. Eventually, it becomes an unavoidable reality that we must deal with and benefit from. The same happened when computers emerged in the last century, followed by the internet, and then smartphones. Therefore, the impact of artificial intelligence is inevitable, and the question should be: How will it affect the future of work? Not whether it will or won’t.
It is difficult to determine the full impact of AI on the future of work because the technology is evolving rapidly, and tech giants are investing billions to push the boundaries of innovation in this field and take the lead. Early indicators suggest that change is inevitable, but it does not appear to be worrisome according to most experts.
A study conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with “Accenture” on the potential impact of large language models like ChatGPT on jobs, published as part of the “Jobs of Tomorrow” report series, suggests that integrating these models into various fields of work will bring about a qualitative shift in how we interact with information and, consequently, how we work. The study concludes that the impact of generative AI on jobs will vary depending on the roles, and the greatest benefits will be for professions centered around critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, especially those in fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. On the other hand, jobs that are susceptible to automation, especially those involving routine linguistic tasks like bank tellers or data entry clerks, will be more affected.
Expectations haven’t changed much following a study titled “Generative AI and Jobs: A Global Analysis of Potential Effects on Job Quantity and Quality,” conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) this year. It suggests that generative AI is likely to enhance jobs rather than eliminate them, by automating some tasks but not completely replacing entire roles. Thus, the study indicates that most jobs across various industries are only partially exposed to automation and will benefit from this technology in some way. The possible changes will be in areas like workload density and autonomy.
All of this seems logical because it’s challenging to imagine jobs where every task can be fully automated through generative AI, perhaps only for very few jobs involving entirely repetitive routine tasks. This impact is expected to become more pronounced in the future, especially in professions like customer service, telemarketing, programming, writing, accounting, data entry, and secretarial work. However, it won’t be without challenges. For example, this year in the Unites States, cinema workers went on strike due to the loss of jobs for background actors (extras) as producers increasingly relied on AI-generated content to replace them.
Collaboration, Adaptation, and Opportunity
There will always be a need in most professions for tasks that require a human touch and creativity —tasks that AI cannot perform. Additionally, there’s the strategic aspect that relies on accumulated expertise that no machine can match. The more a profession requires personal interaction and empathy, the less it will be affected by these new technologies. Business owners won’t entirely replace their employees with generative AI, even if it means it will complete these tasks in less time and at a lower cost, as it will not maintain the same level of efficiency without compromising the quality of the services or products they provide.
Over the past few months, generative AI has proven its ability to revolutionize various fields by automating some tasks and freeing up more time and effort for more challenging tasks. This is what we need to focus on. We must consider how to harness this technology to enhance skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, and to carry out our work more efficiently.
It seems that machines and humans can collaborate. There’s no need for anyone to lose their job. However, to achieve the best results, different companies and institutions must focus on reskilling and upskilling their employees to enable them to interact optimally with AI, perhaps even taking on entirely new roles. Employees will need to adapt to changes in the nature of their work, and they may need to change how they perform their tasks entirely. It’s no longer optional. At the same time, it’s important that employees focus on developing personal skills like emotional intelligence, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork, as these are skills that artificial intelligence has not yet been able to simulate.
Skill development and lifelong learning have become a necessity for every employee. According to the 2023 edition of the Future of Jobs report by the WEF, 25 percent of the skills required for most jobs worldwide have changed in nature since 2015, and there are expectations that the pace of change will be even faster in the coming years. Therefore, employees should anticipate a change in the skills currently required, which could reach up to 65 percent of skills by 2030!
When discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of work, one cannot ignore the opportunities it can provide. Demand for some jobs may decrease while demand for others increases, just as entirely new jobs will emerge, as has happened with every technological leap throughout history. AI systems will require specialists in the field to build, develop, and maintain them. There is an expected increase in demand for specialists in AI, computer science, machine learning, data analysis, and digital transformation. This will also reinforce the trend of many countries developing smart cities.
“By 2025, the global market for artificial intelligence (AI) software is projected to exceed $130 billion.” Gartner Consulting
Challenges and Threats in the AI Era
Despite all that has been mentioned, some still see AI not only as a threat to jobs but to humanity as a whole. This view is shared by many experts in AI, scientists, researchers, and business leaders.
In May 2023, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that the impact of AI on jobs will be greater than expected. He urged the US Congress to intervene to regulate and mitigate the risks of large language models. He suggested that the government should establish standards and requirements for licensing, development, and deployment of AI models, emphasizing that the primary goal of founding OpenAI is to find solutions to prevent AI from destroying the world, as he is certain it has the capability to do so!
This might sound like an exaggeration, but it does not diminish the necessity for cooperation between institutions developing these technologies and governments to find solutions to face the potential risks of artificial intelligence’s evolution and to ensure its responsible and ethical use for the public good.
Like any new technology, the world needs to approach generative AI with caution. There are concerns about its use in creating content that includes misleading information, fake news, and deepfake videos. This is already happening!
Moreover, large language models still face many issues that undermine the credibility of the content they produce. Users don’t have full visibility into the sources that these models rely on. Additionally, most of the digital content available worldwide to feed such models is in English and other foreign languages, with recent statistics indicating that approximately 60 percent of online content is in English, while Arabic content represents less than 1 percent. The ability to develop these technologies is also limited to a few countries. All the above often result in content produced by these models being biased and not diverse nor representative of different cultures.
There is also the problem of AI hallucination, where these models produce entirely unreal content based on fabricated falsehoods. So far, no one knows the exact cause of this phenomenon.
Summary
What is happening now is just the beginning of the era of AI. The evolution is advancing rapidly. No one knows exactly where these technologies will lead, but they hold great promise.
You might be asking yourself what should I do? The impact is inevitable, and you must prepare for it. This impact will vary from one sector to another, from one profession to another, and from one region to another, as there are many factors that will determine its scope.
Everyone needs to closely follow developments in the AI field and its impact on their area of study or specialization. Regardless of your career stage, you should research and experiment with various available tools to help you perform your work better, and possibly even to perform some tasks on your behalf, rather than instead of you. Online learning platforms offer courses and certificates that introduce you to various aspects of artificial intelligence and how to benefit from it. Some of these courses can even help you start a career in this field. If you are in a position of responsibility, look for ways to use it to develop your management or institution. There are also many executive-level courses to help executives use AI technologies to develop their organizations.
At the same time, governments will need to reconsider their education and employment policies. Keeping up with the forefront of AI will require developing the education system and incorporating artificial intelligence education at various levels. Teachers also require training and education in this area, and students should be encouraged to closely familiarize themselves with the field and its impact on the future of work. They should consider pursuing majors like computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, programming, robotics, and data science.
