AI + The New Human Frontier

CHAPTER 9The Evolving Work Landscape

Clearly, we must address the elephant in the room: the potential for job displacement and AI's impact on work as we know it. The integration of AI technology into various industries has sparked a debate about what it will portend for the future of work. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that nearly 40 percent of jobs across the globe could be affected by the rise of AI. In advanced economies, it estimates that approximately 60 percent of jobs may be impacted by AI.¹

This leaves many people nervously wondering if the rapid advances in automation and digital technology will eliminate many people's livelihoods. For many observers, going back to the period beginning in 2005–2008, the narrative around AI and work was almost solely focused on the disruption of manual labor. This includes many of the jobs typically considered “blue-collar” (e.g., assembly line and factory workers, manufacturers, stock clerks, etc.). The emergence, for example, of self-service kiosks in fast-food restaurants and automated processes in factories has raised concerns over the effect on jobs.

We are currently facing a landscape where long-term employment is waning, relationships between employers and employees are more transient, and there seems to be little to ease mounting fears among the working class. There is an increasing trend towards temporary contracts and insecure work across the world, and stagnant wages are commonplace. There will be more part-time ...