Workers and employers see the impact of these technologies on their activities as positive. However, they worry about future job losses.
Wanting to get workers’ and employers’ perceptions of the current state and future impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in their workplaces, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) surveyed 5,334 workers and 2,053 firms in the manufacturing and financial sectors in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. .
The survey was divided into two parts: one aimed at employers to learn how and why AI is being applied, and the other aimed at workers who sought a first-person experience of using AI and responding to the changes it causes.
Everything indicates that artificial intelligence has had a positive impact within companies, with 80% of workers and employers seeing it this way, who highlighted that the use of these systems brought them job satisfaction, equality in management, and even physical and mental health.
For the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, “This suggests that AI, if used properly, can contribute to higher productivity and better quality of work.”
Employers reported that the AI had automated tasks that they used to do and created tasks that they had not done before.
replacing
However, workers have expressed some concerns about the impact of AI on job stability and wages. After all, 20% of those in finance and 15% in manufacturing said they knew a colleague had lost his job as a result of AI. Given this, they admitted that they were worried about losing jobs in the next 10 years, while 46% and 50% were not worried at all.
Workers and employers note that jobs and job stability in finances face greater risks. In both sectors, many workers expected AI to drive down wages. The OECD stressed that given the potential for greater adoption of AI in the workplace in the coming years, these are issues worth watching closely, including observing sectoral differences.
57% of workers said they support banning AI so co-workers are not fired.
an exercise
Another topic discussed was the skills acquired to master AI. Employers here reported that they had addressed changing needs, by training human resources, who were ultimately more likely to report positive results from AI in their jobs.
Although the majority of workers who use AI do not consider themselves experts in skills, more than 70% said they are excited to learn more about AI.
While employers say the importance of specialized AI skills has increased, they suggest workers now need to be more skilled.
The survey indicates that a wide range of workers need more skills as AI becomes more pervasive in the economy.
Employers have emphasized that cost and skill shortages are currently the biggest barriers to AI adoption.
Most workers trust their employers to make the right decisions regarding AI, but not all of them do, which suggests more can be done in this area.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, this survey was motivated by a desire to limit the scope of use of artificial intelligence and to avoid the generalities that underpin much of the public discourse about these technologies. The manufacturing and financial sectors were chosen because they offer a higher prevalence of AI compared to the others, as well as the heterogeneity between them in terms of worker profile.
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