The news: Employers will increasingly rely on AI to enhance productivity, and workers in the "middle ground" may face the greatest potential losses, as suggested by Business Insider's Matt Turner. According to Turner, workers who are mid-ability, mid-level, and mid-career could be disproportionately affected by AI. "Mediocrity will be automated," an unnamed tech executive told him. What the numbers say: Business leaders do view enhanced workplace productivity as the top advantage of AI, according to Microsoft. The company's 2023 Work Trend Index, appropriately titled "Will AI Fix Work?", found that 31% of business leaders valued AI for increasing employee productivity, the most of any potential benefit. According to a separate Harris survey, 40% of workers worry about ChatGPT replacing their jobs, while 60% believe it will boost their productivity.
The evidence: AI does appear to boost worker productivity, and novice workers benefit over their cohorts with higher skills, according to a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Introducing an AI-based conversational assistant at a call center boosted worker productivity by almost 14%, on average, for nearly 5,200 customer support agents. The study showed a 35% improvement for low-skilled and inexperienced workers, with little to no impact on experienced workers, suggesting that it may not pay off for higher-skilled workers.
Source: "Generative AI at Work," Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li & Lindsey R. Raymond. |
