According to a recent report by McKinsey, generative AI could potentially have the biggest impact on high earners particularly those in knowledge work with activities that involve decision-making and collaboration.
The report states that generative AI creates content which can be in the form of text, audio, images and videos based on a prompt given by users. The technology has significantly increased in popularity following the release of OpenAI’s AI chatbot ChatGPT last November. Although generative AI has become a useful tool for personal, professional and academic purposes such as drafting work emails, writing letters and summarizing research, there are also concerns that it may spread misinformation and be used for malicious purposes.
The McKinsey analysis found that between 2030 and 2060, half of today’s work activities could be automated. Previous analysis shows that automation technology had a more significant impact on jobs with lower-middle wages; however, with recent advancements in generative AI, the focus has shifted from automating physical tasks to cognitive tasks such as decision-making and collaboration. Special focus on high-wage jobs that require higher educational requirements could see the most significant impact due to advancement in generative AI.
The report suggests that generative AI would have a significant impact across all industry sectors, and industries such as banking, high tech, and life sciences, could have the most impact as a percentage of their revenue from generative AI. For workers, generative AI could help them access internal information quickly, acting like a virtual expert. One study found that customer service agents in the Philippines became happier, more productive, and less likely to quit when given AI assistants.
However, McKinsey’s analysts have suggested that with the possibility of 60% to 70% of employee’s time-consuming automated work activities owing to the improvement in generative AI’s understanding of natural language and advances in technical automation potential, workers could need help moving to other job activities or retraining for another job. The report also implies that AI can substantially increase labor productivity while at the same time highlighting the need for workers to recognize and train to utilize generative AI.
