Activists want to join the AI revolution.
A common theme we've been hearing from all quarters lately is that artificial intelligence is a job killer, accompanied by scary headlines. “AI is going to kill more jobs than anyone realizes,” ran a headline in Business Insider last August. CNN recently said, “AI is replacing human jobs faster than you think. Everywhere there are lists of jobs that AI is or will soon replace, like this thread from MSN Pace: “24 Careers AI Possible: Will Your Job Survive?” “While your job may be safe for now, there's no guarantee you'll be set for the future.” The author predicts gloomily.
However, it seems the workers didn't get the memo – or the pile of memos. In recent surveys, there has been little evidence of fear and loathing among workers who may see their jobs change as AI becomes more prominent on the scene. Most workers, in fact, seem to happy That AI will help them in their pursuit.
For example, a new survey of 6,000 Salesforce employees found that 77% of today's workers trust AI, and even want AI to do about half of their jobs. The leading categories for confidence in fully autonomous work tasks were writing code (15% confidence), unlocking data insights (13%), and drafting written communications (12%), and as a personal assistant. (12%) include working on
Similarly, only five percent of the 150,735 workers who responded to a Boston Consulting Group survey expressed concern that AI will eliminate their jobs. On the other hand, 25% expected no impact on their jobs, and another 49% said AI could replace some tasks.
A majority of the 56,600 workers surveyed by PwC also expect positive impacts from AI. At least 31% believe AI will increase their productivity and efficiency, while 21% expect AI to create new job opportunities.
A Salesforce survey shows that workers today already rely on AI to perform about 43 percent of their work tasks. Around eight in ten, 77%, workers will eventually rely on AI to work autonomously. Ten percent would also trust autonomous AI today, while 26% would trust autonomous AI in less than three years.
According to a BCG survey, about 40% of employees regularly use generative AI tools. They're not afraid of creative AI, either — most say they'll need help figuring out what skills to develop.
Confidence is the key. Activists want to be involved in the process of rolling out AI to accomplish tasks. A Salesforce survey found that at least 63 percent of people want more say in AI implementation decisions. The problem is that 54% say they don't know how AI is implemented or governed in their workplace. Training may be another key to trusted autonomy: 62% of workers say that skill building and more training opportunities will increase their confidence in AI.
Workers who currently use generative AI do so for simple activities like research, management and translation, BCG found — “uses that are akin to replacing Google with genAI,” the survey's authors observed. The authors of the survey observe.
The BCG authors add that workers using generative AI are leveraging it for their core tasks, not just general administrative work and research. “Personal GenAI applications often involve finding facts and gaining general knowledge (40%), developing skills and learning (38%), or translating content from other languages (33%).”
Outside of the workplace, people are using generative AI as a career development or job search tool, using it to generate resumes and cover letters, for example.