‘Job apocalypse’ from Artificial Intelligence is not inevitable, says think-tank

NEW research says up to eight million jobs are at risk from AI unless the Government takes action.

The report from the IPPR thinktank also says the jobs most at risk by the first phase of the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace are back office entry level and part-time roles, which are more likely to be held by women.

Despite displacement of jobs, the report says a “job apocalypse” is not an inevitable outcome, with increases to both wages and GDP possible through a managed introduction of AI and co-ordination between government and employers to preserve jobs and create new roles that are safe from AI.

The analysis describes the present as a “sliding doors” moment for AI, in which either good or bad outcomes are possible depending on government decisions in the field.

There are two waves to the implementation of AI according to the report, the first is the period in which AI is experimented with and refined, as is happening presently. The second wave is where businesses integrate improved AI technologies more deeply into their processes.

Of 22,000 tasks in the UK economy in every type of job identified by the report’s authors, 11 per cent of tasks are already exposed to AI. These are tasks such as database management, and scheduling or inventory management.

The second wave of AI could see the figure of tasks in the economy exposed to AI rise to 59 per cent, leaving large numbers of jobs vulnerable to redundancy.

The report presents three models – a worst case scenario in which all 7.9m jobs at risk to AI are lost, a central scenario in which 4.4 million jobs are lost but with an increase in GDP of 6.6 per cent, and a best case scenario in which all jobs at risk are preserved by augmenting AI into their workflows and a boost of 13 per cent to UK GDP, worth £306bn, is seen.