Americans expecting AI to change their workplace
A new survey suggests many people feel artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs, just not theirs.
Every generation of workers struggles with new technologies that can sometimes promise a more efficient and better workplace but, on the flip side, threaten to take away jobs and make certain types of work obsolete. Such is the issue with artificial intelligence.
A new survey, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh – an international talent and outsourcing company – shows that 90 percent of Americans feel AI will change the workplace in some fashion, and of those, 63 percent think AI will have a negative impact on the future of the workplace.
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There are also differing opinions when asked about one’s own job versus of those of other workers. For example, while 46 percent of the 1,100 employed adults surveyed believe AI will eliminate the jobs of others, only 23 percent feel it will eliminate their own jobs.
“We know that artificial intelligence is already improving the way companies recruit, affecting the way people work and changing the way leaders think about jobs of the future,” said Emmett McGrath, President of Yoh. “We believe that it will actually create many more jobs than it eliminates…In the future, it will be up to companies to ensure AI can deliver positive impacts to the way people work and up to individuals to build new, adaptable skills that will be critical in a world where AI is even more pervasive than it is now,” he added.
There are also differences between the way women and men think about AI in the workplace. For example, 25 percent of employed men think AI may eliminate their job, while 46 percent think AI will eliminate others’ jobs. Among women, 22 percent of those employed think AI may eliminate their job, while 45 percent think AI will eliminate others’ jobs.
Overall, most Americans think some form of change is imminent with only nine percent thinking AI will not change the workplace at all. This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh from June 7-11, 2018 among 2,050 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,104 are currently employed.