If we’re to believe some of the bleaker headlines about AI, barely anyone’s job is safe from destruction by automation. Apparently, the livelihoods of translators, scientists, mathematicians, writers and even poets are already under threat. No wonder 32% of UK employees think the technology could render their roles redundant, according to a survey published by the Office for National Statistics in Q4 2023.
Yet the same research found that 28% of workers believe AI could make their jobs easier. This is the pitch made by the many technologists who, in contrast to the attention-grabbing doomsayers, contend that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT are much more likely to help workers than replace them.
They argue that AI-powered digital assistants can serve their human masters, rather than exasperate them like Microsoft Office’s much-mocked Clippy feature used to do. They can remove the drudgery from people’s everyday work, accelerate processes or use data in new ways.