Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology have caused many people to worry about the automation of jobs. AI tech, such as Generative AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have exploded in popularity in recent months, leaving some organizations already turning to the chatbot to fill posts requiring content production.
This has also caused a number of studies to be conducted to try and assess the potential effect of AI on the labor market – with reports from Goldman Sachs estimating that 300 million full-time jobs are at risk from the tech. Another study from OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania found that ChatGPT poses a risk to approximately 80% of US jobs.
The legal industry appears to be particularly exposed to the advances in AI technology. Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and New York University researchers used a benchmark to match specific work tasks and AI capabilities to calculate their study results. This uncovered that legal was the industry most likely influenced by AI tech like ChatGPT. The report from Goldman Sachs highlighted legal workers as among those at the greatest risk of strategic change due to the new technologies.
White-collar professions, such as those in administration, are also at high risk of being affected by advanced AI technology – with Goldman Sachs estimating that approximately 46% of work tasks in the sector could be automated. Education is another industry likely to face change due to AI, with post-secondary teachers and junior colleges being amongst the most exposed occupations. Professors across various subjects and junior colleges dominated the top 10 most affected occupations according to Raj.
By comparison, those who work in manual industries, such as construction and trade, may be less influenced by AI advances. Goldman Sachs researchers found that the majority of tasks in the bank, construction and related industry could be automated – and the trade sector requires a large amount of practical, hands-on experience and training, making it difficult to automate.
The company mentioned in this article is OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research company co-founded by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever. Founded in late 2015, OpenAI focuses on Artificial General Intelligence which encompasses a wide variety of advanced AI technologies.
The person mentioned in this article is Manav Raj, an assistant professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an author of the study by Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University. Raj is a visiting fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has research interests in artificial intelligence and its implications for the labour market and other areas. His current research focuses on the implications of deep learning for labour markets and the way it influences job distributions and wage contributions.
