27% of workforce in European nations could lose jobs to AI

There has been mounting fear that the advent of artificial intelligence will eat up more jobs, leaving many unemployed. Now, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) fears that 27 per cent of their workers could lose jobs to AI.

OECD, a 38-member block, said, “Increasingly rapid developments in AI are likely to significantly affect jobs.”

The block said a quarter of jobs in the OECD rely on skills which could easily be automated due to the insurgence of AI.

“While firms’ adoption of AI is still relatively low, rapid progress including with generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT), falling costs and the increasing availability of workers with AI skills suggest that OECD countries may be on the brink of an AI revolution,” OECD said its Employment Outlook 2023 report.

The report stated that it would be important to gather “new and better” data on AI uptake and use in workplace.

It suggested identifying jobs that will change, be created or disappear and how skills needs are shifting.

“When considering all automation technologies including AI, 27 per cent of jobs are in occupations at high-risk of automation,” the report said.

As per the initial findings from a new OECD survey, AI’s impact in the manufacturing and finance sectors of seven countries highlight both the opportunities and risks that AI brings.

Jobs at highest risk were defined as those using more than 25 of the 100 skills and abilities that AI experts consider can be easily automated.

The findings show that despite AI use at work could lead to positive outcomes for workers around job satisfaction, health and wages, there are also risks around privacy, work intensity and bias.

“The survey revealed a clear divide between what workers think about AI use in their jobs today and their fears for the future,” the OECD report said, adding that the results highlight the urgent need for policy action now, to ensure that no one is left behind.

In its survey last year, OECD found out that three out of five workers fear that they could lose their job to AI over the next 10 years. The survey covered 5,300 workers in 2,000 firms spanning manufacturing and finance across seven OECD countries.

Despite anxiety over the advent of AI, two-thirds of workers, who are already working with it, said automation had made their jobs less dangerous or tedious.

“How AI will ultimately impact workers in the workplace and whether the benefits will outweigh the risks, will depend on the policy actions we take,” OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann said at a news conference.

“Governments must help workers to prepare for the changes and benefit from the opportunities AI will bring about,” he continued.

With inputs from agencies