The Future of Work: How Automation and AI are Reshaping Jobs and Careers

Introduction

As the world continues to embrace the digital revolution, emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are rapidly transforming industries across the globe and reshaping the job market. More importantly, these cutting-edge technologies significantly change the nature of work and the work environment, redefining how we perceive employment. In this article, we will examine the impact of automation and AI on the workforce and uncover the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Overview: Automation and Artificial Intelligence

Automation is the process of developing and implementing technologies that perform a wide range of tasks with minimal human intervention. It uses different technologies to produce goods and provide services without significant human input. The automation process can range from implementing smaller, subtle technological features to help improve the performance and efficiency of human workers to more obvious implementations like self-sufficient industrial robots performing complex manufacturing tasks.

On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of technology that focuses on creating computer systems and intelligent machines that can perceive and analyze data to make decisions autonomously and perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. This implies that AI-powered systems can sometimes replicate human intelligence and even surpass it. These systems are progressively becoming an important part of our daily lives, with applications ranging from self-driving cars on roads to cognitive robots in manufacturing plants.

Some benefits of using AI technology and automated systems in the workplace include improved decision-making, increased efficiency and productivity, enhanced workplace communication, reduced workloads, cost reductions, improved quality of end products, enhanced workplace safety, and many more.

Positive Impacts of AI and Automation on the Future of Work

Adopting automation and AI technologies in workplaces will bring positive impacts.

Introduction of Advanced Technologies in Workplaces

Recent advancements in AI and automation are significantly pushing the frontier of what autonomous systems can do. Much of this technological progress is driven by significant improvements in developing and manufacturing automation devices and related components, including automation software, sensors, and mechanics.

Artificial Intelligence has made huge strides in recent years, with AI and machine-learning algorithms becoming more sophisticated as they leverage the vast amounts of data available to train them and the massive increase in computing power. Below are a few examples of how advanced AI technologies positively impact the nature of work.

• Virtual Assistants: As AI-powered digital assistants like Cortana, Alexa, and Siri become more advanced, they will increasingly become more prevalent in workplaces. These virtual assistants are helping human workers prioritize tasks, schedule meetings, and even sort out their email inboxes. Automating such mundane and time-consuming tasks will allow workers more time to focus on higher-value tasks that require human intelligence and skills such as creativity and problem-solving.

• Predictive Data Analytics: AI and Machine Learning technologies enable manufacturing industries to process collected sensor data using advanced predictive data analytics in automation systems. Also, machine learning algorithms and AI-powered modern databases enable plant workers to manage and make sense of complex, diverse, and unstructured data sets for better automation of manufacturing processes.

In addition, AI-powered predictive data analytics are transforming how companies and organizations approach hiring by introducing a data-driven and proactive approach to recruitment. AI algorithms help recruiters identify high-potential job candidates in a robust talent pool based on specific factors such as their education, skills, and work experience. This allows objective visibility into the recruitment process’s efficiency, value, and effectiveness while reducing the potential for discrimination and bias.

• Collaborative Robots: Commonly referred to as Cobots, collaborative robots are designed and built to operate safely with human workers in a shared, collaborative work environment. They are mainly programmed to automate dangerous or physically taxing tasks for human workers, thereby reducing and eliminating the need for human labor in handling hazardous or repetitive jobs.

Also, by working alongside collaborative robots, human workers can focus entirely on industrial tasks that require human intelligence and specific skills, such as decision-making and critical thinking. As such, Cobots help create safer, more productive, and more efficient workplaces.

In essence, Cobots’ accuracy, repeatability, and uptime are designed to complement human workers’ problem-solving skills and intelligence. In most industrial applications, these robots are responsible for repetitive, menial activities, while human workers complete more complex and thought–intensive industrial tasks. Some of the tasks handled by Cobots in various industries include quality inspections, material handling, assembling parts, welding, finishing, dispensing, material removal, and many more.

Note: Collaborative robots do not replace human workers. Instead, they make them more valuable as they possess the innate ability to work safely alongside humans. In contrast, traditional autonomous robots are hard-coded to perform a single task and work independently repeatedly, so they work in place of human workers.

Creation of New Jobs and Careers

Emerging research data on the impact of automation and AI, particularly from McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum, is beginning to indicate positive signs for new job positions and even entire careers closely related to the two state-of-the-art technologies, and the trend is expected to continue.

For example, over the last five years, the proliferation of AI technologies has accelerated the demand for data scientists, data analysts, robotics engineers, AI hardware specialists, and machine learning engineers. Also, several new job positions, such as AI trainers and data labeling professionals, are already developing around AI technology; these individuals support data scientists and analysts. In addition, the demand for human capabilities related to computational intelligence, mathematics, statistical modeling, psychology, neuroscience, machine learning, and linguistics will increase.

Similarly, many companies will need an AI maintenance workforce (i.e., AI developers and engineers) to maintain their AI-based automation systems. For instance, self-driving vehicles are now becoming a reality thanks to advances in AI-powered vehicle navigation systems, with companies like Google and Uber investing hundreds of millions of dollars into AI-driven autonomous cars and trucks. And as autonomous transportation picks up in the future, it will create more positions for AI hardware specialists, machine learning engineers, and related workforce.

These trends show that any new industrial sector that arises shortly will integrate the latest automation technologies and AI innovations as soon as they’re developed. So, the future industries will be designed and built on the foundations of artificial intelligence, data science, and digital technology. As previously mentioned, this will lead to new jobs and careers closely related to developing and implementing AI and automation technologies.

However, these newly created jobs and careers will require workers to acquire new skills to adapt to digital change quickly. Some of the skills to cultivate in the age of Artificial Intelligence and automation include:

• Technological skills
• Basic mathematics
• Critical thinking
• Complex problem-solving
• Creativity
• Teamwork and Adaptability
• Advanced written and verbal communication
• Emotional intelligence
• People management

For example, as AI-powered automation systems and intelligent machines take over repetitive and routine tasks previously done by human workers, new jobs that require creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills will become more valuable. Thus, workers with such skills will be in high demand, while those without them may struggle to find employment.

Increased Efficiency and Improved Productivity in Workplaces

One of the most obvious benefits of industrial automation is increased factory productivity that comes with handing over repetitive tasks to autonomous robots. These robots can work independently at constant speed, 24/7, allowing continuous mass production of high-quality end products 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This greatly improves the productivity of factories and industrial processes while shortening manufacturing lead times.

Likewise, AI technologies can help human workers become more efficient by providing them with tools that automate mundane tasks and data-driven insights on optimizing their work productivity. AI technology also has the power to eliminate the risks of human error in business operations and to correct biases and prejudices that employees may not even be aware they have.

It is also worth noting that the increased use of AI and automation systems in workplaces remarkably impacts how we work. For example, the ability of AI-powered systems to perform a wide array of tasks autonomously enables companies and organizations to become more efficient and productive with minimal human input. This is, in turn, leading to significant changes in the conventional 9-to-5, eight-hour workday. With flexible working hours, remote working, and the Gig economy becoming more popular as enterprises seek to leverage the benefits of automation and AI.

A Gig economy is a free labor market system that relies heavily on part-time and temporary positions. In this economy, companies and organizations hire freelancers and independent contractors for short-term commitments instead of full-time permanent workers.

Expected Work Disruptions

Even as automation and AI technologies benefit businesses and society, we must prepare for significant work disruptions due to rapid technological developments. Some of the expected work disruptions include:

Job Displacement and Unemployment

One of the primary worries about recent advancements in automation and AI is that these two technologies will replace human workers in different sectors. Several research studies have confirmed that AI and automation technologies will take over some tasks that humans currently do.

For example, since the year 2000, industrial robots and AI-powered autonomous systems have gradually phased out about 1.7 million manufacturing jobs, and they are likely to replace as many as 2 million more workers in the manufacturing sector by 2025, according to a recent research paper by economists at Boston University and MIT.

Also, a research report by McKinsey Global Institute (The Future of Jobs Report 2023) indicates that almost 400 million human workers, approximately 15% of the global labor pool, could be at risk of being displaced by automation and AI solutions in 2016-2030. This is if the pace of AI and automation adoption will be moderate. According to the same report, the fastest adoption scenario will see about 800 million workers, approx. 30% of the global workforce lost their jobs due to the implementation of AI and automation technologies.

Job roles that involve routine and repetitive tasks are at a higher risk of being automated by AI. Everyday tasks follow a predetermined set of rules or procedures; they include assembly line work, accounting, data entry tasks, etc. Such tasks can easily be replicated and automated by AI algorithms. Hence, accountants, machine and plant operators, radiologists, factory workers, paralegals, truckers, taxi drivers, and many more will be confronted by a major digital disruption due to advancements in AI and automation similar to that experienced by farmers during the 1760-1840 Industrial Revolution.

Almost all occupations across different industries, ranging from manufacturing to agriculture and healthcare, will be affected by the implementation of AI and automation systems. Still, only 5% of these jobs will likely be fully automated by the currently available AI and automation technologies. Nonetheless, about 30% of the tasks in 60% of all occupations can be fully automated.

In addition, occupations that require critical thinking, creativity, and human interaction (social skills) are more likely to be augmented by AI-powered technologies, as they can greatly benefit from human-AI collaboration. This means that most human workers–from machine welders to surgical assistants to CEOs–will work alongside rapidly evolving automation systems and intelligent machines.

Change of Jobs and Occupations

More job roles than those created or lost due to automation and AI will be changed as partial automation becomes more widespread in workplaces, with automation and AI-powered systems complementing human labor.

For instance, automation systems based on AI algorithms are being used to read and analyze medical diagnostic scans with greater accuracy, enabling doctors and other medical professionals to diagnose patient cases much faster. One such system is the IDx-DR, the first-ever AI-powered autonomous system used to instantly detect and diagnose early or more than mild signs of Diabetic Retinopathy in retinal visual images. Also, doctors can identify a suitable treatment for the condition using the diagnostic data gathered by the IDx-DR AI algorithms.

In other fields, workers carrying out repetitive tasks are likely to shift toward roles of managing and troubleshooting the automated systems taking over their jobs. For instance, at retailer Amazon, workers who formerly lifted and stacked goods are now becoming robotics operators tasked with monitoring the automated robotic arms and resolving operational issues like an interruption in the flow of goods.

Research conducted by McKinsey & Company suggests that, in an intermediate automation and AI implementation scenario, nearly 3% of the global labor pool will likely need to change occupations by 2030. However, all the scenarios vary from about 0-14%. These occupational shifts will occur within industrial sectors and companies, but most will happen across different sectors and even geographical regions.

Moreover, jobs involving routine and repetitive physical tasks in highly structured workplaces or data processing and collection centers will significantly decline. Occupations that will see a rising demand for work include those involving difficult-to-automate tasks, such as nursing aides, managers, teachers, and other similar professionals, and those in unpredictable work areas, such as electricians and plumbers. Also, demand for tech-savvy workers, especially in software and robotics engineering, is expected to rise exponentially.

How Can Businesses Prepare for the Future of Work?

As automation and AI technologies become more advanced and capable, they notably impact the job market, as discussed in the sections above. For example, while taking over some previously done by humans, these progressive technologies also create new job roles or even entire careers and make human workers more efficient.

This is leading to significant changes in the type of skills in high demand, the type of occupational categories available, and how we work–with a greater emphasis on self-direction and self-management. It is, therefore, important for individuals, companies, and governments to be conscious of these shifts and adapt accordingly.

Here are various ways businesses can prepare for the future of work and remain competitive in the age of AI and automation.

• Invest in Technology: Considering the rapid progress of technological advancements, companies will need to invest heavily in new and innovative technologies such as automation, Artificial Intelligence, and cloud computing.  

• Identify Automatable Tasks: Businesses must identify which tasks and operations can be automated and which cannot. This will allow them to create effective strategies for adopting automation and AI technologies tailored to their needs. It will also assist them in adapting their business models to automation and AI, which may mean retraining their current employees to work alongside automated and AI-powered systems or hiring new employees with skills such as machine learning, computational intelligence, critical thinking, and data analysis.

For example, businesses that require a lot of creativity and problem-solving solutions may consider training and equipping their current employees with these skills to work alongside automated systems. On the other hand, companies that specialize in data collection and data processing may benefit more from adopting AI-powered solutions. Companies will need to hire data scientists and various AI specialists, including AI developers, AI engineers, and AI trainers.

• Increase Workplace Flexibility: Implementing AI and automation technologies is changing how employees work and the terms on which they work. Due to this innovative nature of work, businesses must increase workplace flexibility by embracing the idea that employees can be productive regardless of when or where they work. As such, it will be prudent for companies to consider various work options such as remote working, telecommuting, job-sharing, hybrid work models, and flexible work schedules.

• Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion: Companies should consider financing training programs and other development opportunities designed to equip their current employees with skills more closely aligned with emerging technologies such as AI, automation, and robotics. This could help ensure workers remain relevant in an increasingly automated world.  It will also go a long way in fostering a culture of innovation in the workplace, which can encourage employees to come up with new ideas and technologies.

In addition, to prioritize diversity and inclusivity in their hiring and employment practices, companies need to recruit new employees from an extensive range of backgrounds, provide training sessions on unconscious biases and other diversity-related issues to the HR team, and foster a culture of inclusion in work environments.

• Create Ethical Frameworks: Businesses must take proactive steps towards establishing ethical frameworks that will inform the development and responsible use of AI-enabled systems and automation solutions. For instance, companies will require standard AI ethics to govern how AI-driven automation systems’ decisions affect their employees and customers.

Also, as AI and automation technologies become increasingly sophisticated over time, these ethical frameworks must be established early on. This ensures that all parties involved feel confident about implementing AI and automation solutions in the future without worrying about unforeseen consequences.

Overall, transitioning smoothly into a world powered by intelligent machines and automated systems requires careful planning and foresight. Thus, to prepare for the future of work, businesses must be more innovative, agile, and adaptable as they implement advanced automation and AI solutions. Also, companies must invest more in technology, employee enrichment, research and development of innovative technologies, workplace flexibility, and workforce diversity.

This entry was posted on September 28th, 2023 and is filed under Automation, Education, Robotics, Technology. Both comments and pings are currently closed.