Opting out of AI may not be an option. Especially in the workplace.That’s the conclusion of the Conference Board of Canada, which has issued a cautionary — and sobering — look at the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) on the way people do everyday jobs.For good or ill, it’s already here. “The genie is out of the bottle,” it says.And the most impacted won’t be blue collar minimum wage workers, but executive level positions in so-called ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and math) professions. Also, those in any kind of writing profession — journalists, judges, school principals and even judges — will be disproportionately affected, the Conference Board says..“The potential for these applications to disrupt how we create and communicate ideas is profound.“Conference Board of Canada.“These are the roles where generative AI is most likely to have the largest impact on day-to-day tasks,” it says. “Individuals in these professions that require proficiency in both writing and programming are positioned to experience the largest impacts of generative AI tools.”“The potential for these applications to disrupt how we create and communicate ideas is profound.“.Fortunately — or not — people with these skills make up just 4% of the overall workforce. They are typically in positions that have traditionally been resistant to automation.But the pace is only expected to accelerate, given the first widely available AI platform, ChatGPT, has only been available for a year. The report notes that ChatGPT — Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer — had 100 million users within two months of its launch in November, 2022 and garners 1.5 billion visits per month making it one of the top-25 most visited sites on the web. .“Wherever AI development next takes us, the genie is out of the bottle: AI will have implications for the future of work,” the report says. “Tools like ChatGPT will have implications for a hugely different group of workers.”.By contrast, it took Instagram more than two and a half years to manage the same feat.The concept of AI has a surprisingly long history, with the first AI program often attributed as the “Logic Theorist,” created in 1956. More recently, advancements in machine learning algorithms, and the growing availability of large data sets on which to train models, have led to a proliferation of AI applications.“Wherever AI development next takes us, the genie is out of the bottle: AI will have implications for the future of work,” the report says. “Tools like ChatGPT will have implications for a hugely different group of workers.”For example, a recent study provided marketers, grant writers, consultants, data analysts and human resource professionals showed that the respondents worked 40% faster and the quality of their work increased by 18%..However, generative AI tools are less well suited to the creation of new and novel ideas that are inherent in more complex writing tasks, such as creative writing (or presumably writing news stories). Despite this current limitation, concerns around the use of AI emerged as a critical issue in the Hollywood screenwriters strikes.These tools can be used to support complex writing tasks, such as how to structure an idea or to help a writer get past a creative block. However, there are limitations on their usefulness, such as repetitive and overly simplistic language, dated source material, and a lack of originality or nuance. “As a result, in their current form, tools like ChatGPT are more likely to support rather than replace people who are in roles that require complex writing skills. However, the tasks that people in these roles undertake may change to become more focused on complex activities.”Workplaces will also have to tailor new policies — to protect privacy and unauthorized use. The report found almost a third of American office workers use ChatGPT even though they’re specifically banned from doing so.A recent study by the University of British Columbia released in August found that people dislike AI generated art because it “threatens their humanity.”“So why do some people react so negatively to art made by artificial intelligence? It’s because for some, it challenges what it is to be human… and even asserting that its proliferation marks the beginning of the end for humanity.“
Opting out of AI may not be an option. Especially in the workplace.That’s the conclusion of the Conference Board of Canada, which has issued a cautionary — and sobering — look at the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) on the way people do everyday jobs.For good or ill, it’s already here. “The genie is out of the bottle,” it says.And the most impacted won’t be blue collar minimum wage workers, but executive level positions in so-called ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and math) professions. Also, those in any kind of writing profession — journalists, judges, school principals and even judges — will be disproportionately affected, the Conference Board says..“The potential for these applications to disrupt how we create and communicate ideas is profound.“Conference Board of Canada.“These are the roles where generative AI is most likely to have the largest impact on day-to-day tasks,” it says. “Individuals in these professions that require proficiency in both writing and programming are positioned to experience the largest impacts of generative AI tools.”“The potential for these applications to disrupt how we create and communicate ideas is profound.“.Fortunately — or not — people with these skills make up just 4% of the overall workforce. They are typically in positions that have traditionally been resistant to automation.But the pace is only expected to accelerate, given the first widely available AI platform, ChatGPT, has only been available for a year. The report notes that ChatGPT — Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer — had 100 million users within two months of its launch in November, 2022 and garners 1.5 billion visits per month making it one of the top-25 most visited sites on the web. .“Wherever AI development next takes us, the genie is out of the bottle: AI will have implications for the future of work,” the report says. “Tools like ChatGPT will have implications for a hugely different group of workers.”.By contrast, it took Instagram more than two and a half years to manage the same feat.The concept of AI has a surprisingly long history, with the first AI program often attributed as the “Logic Theorist,” created in 1956. More recently, advancements in machine learning algorithms, and the growing availability of large data sets on which to train models, have led to a proliferation of AI applications.“Wherever AI development next takes us, the genie is out of the bottle: AI will have implications for the future of work,” the report says. “Tools like ChatGPT will have implications for a hugely different group of workers.”For example, a recent study provided marketers, grant writers, consultants, data analysts and human resource professionals showed that the respondents worked 40% faster and the quality of their work increased by 18%..However, generative AI tools are less well suited to the creation of new and novel ideas that are inherent in more complex writing tasks, such as creative writing (or presumably writing news stories). Despite this current limitation, concerns around the use of AI emerged as a critical issue in the Hollywood screenwriters strikes.These tools can be used to support complex writing tasks, such as how to structure an idea or to help a writer get past a creative block. However, there are limitations on their usefulness, such as repetitive and overly simplistic language, dated source material, and a lack of originality or nuance. “As a result, in their current form, tools like ChatGPT are more likely to support rather than replace people who are in roles that require complex writing skills. However, the tasks that people in these roles undertake may change to become more focused on complex activities.”Workplaces will also have to tailor new policies — to protect privacy and unauthorized use. The report found almost a third of American office workers use ChatGPT even though they’re specifically banned from doing so.A recent study by the University of British Columbia released in August found that people dislike AI generated art because it “threatens their humanity.”“So why do some people react so negatively to art made by artificial intelligence? It’s because for some, it challenges what it is to be human… and even asserting that its proliferation marks the beginning of the end for humanity.“
