The Looming Threat Of Jobs Apocalypse As AI Adoption Accelerates
A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has sounded the alarm about the potential for a widespread jobs apocalypse in the UK. Resulting from advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The thinktank warns that under a worst case scenario, the second wave of AI adoption seen over the next 3-5 years. Could automate away nearly 8 million jobs across different sectors of the economy.
The IPPR analysed over 22,000 job tasks and found that while current AI has the potential to impact routine cognitive tasks and entry level jobs. Representing around 11% of tasks, this number could skyrocket to 59% during a second wave as generative AI capabilities advance. Database management, scheduling, stocking and clerical work are among the jobs that may already be at risk of automation. If left unmanaged, this could lead to a jobs apocalypse on a massive scale.
Who Will Be Most Affected?
The report indicates that some groups will be much more severely impacted by the threat of jobs apocalypse than others. In particular, women are identified as a high-risk group since they dominate jobs in secretarial, administrative and customer service roles. Younger workers and those earning lower wages also predominate in at-risk occupations. Entirely eliminating 7.9 million jobs would be devastating for these segments of the UK workforce.
However, the IPPR also considers a best case scenario where AI is used to augment rather than replace human labor. If jobs can be transformed with AI to enhance productivity. The UK economy may see a 4% boost equivalent to £92 billion per year. To realize this outcome, the report argues that urgent government intervention is needed to ensure new technologies are developed and applied responsibly, with support for reskilling and career transitions. Otherwise, the UK may be headed for an AI-driven jobs apocalypse on a massive scale.
