Skills Gap Hindering Integration Of AI Technology Into UK economy
Research conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), called "AI at Work: Friend and Foe", has found that there is a significant AI technology skills gap between business leaders and frontline workers which is hindering the integration of AI technology into the UK economy relative to the rest of the world
The research found that whilst 83% of senior leaders in the UK use generative AI technology regularly, just 21% of frontline workers had received the required training. This was well below the European and global averages
Whilst confidence in AI technology has grown over the last year (up 16%), and 58% of those now using AI confirmed that it was saving them over 5 hours of time per week, 49% of those using AI were of the view that their own job would ultimately be displaced by AI at some point over the coming decade. In contrast, just 24% of those who are not using AI at present believe that their job will be lost to AI. The 5 hours being saved was being used to "perform more tasks (41%),....new tasks (39%), experiment with GenAI (38%),...[and] work on strategic tasks (38%)."
Accordingly, the more that AI technology is being integrated into the economy, the level of concern about job loses is rising in parallel with an increasing level of confidence in the technology in terms of the productivity benefits it is able to deliver
These concerns about AI technology leading to job losses has been detected in other recent researech.
Commenting upon the findings in relation to AI technology, the managing director and senior partner at BCG, Jeff Walters, stated: "Understandable human reactions to these technologies can pose challenges to companies as they continue on their GenAI journeys. But as we noted in last year’s report – and it still holds true this year – these are more change management challenges than technology challenges. And now is the time for organisations to double down on their commitment to transformation built around GenAI."
Another managing director and senior partner at BCG, Sylvain Duranton, added: "Our survey exposes the double-edged nature of GenAI. Familiarity correlates with both comfort and fear. GenAI is a revolutionary technology, so these opposing reactions should not be surprising. By recognizing the complex ways in which humans understand and interact with GenAI, leaders can reshape their organizations to maximize the strengths and value of both their human and machine workers."
Not All Workers Expect AI to Result In Job Displacement
Nevertheless, not all research is detecting widespread concerns about AI technology and job losses. Research conducted by Censuswide for Jitterbit, for instance, has found that 61% of office workers do not fear that their jobs will be displaced by AI technology, with 85% taking the view that AI technology will complement and enhance their roles, and 96% believing that it will improve their professional skills.
Moreover, 88% of office workers regarding generative AI as a "valuable educational resource", with the main benefits being saving time in acquiring information (46%), and being able to spend more time on complex work (33%) and bigger projects (33%).
Commenting upon the findings, the President and CEO of Jitterbit, Bill Conner, stated: "Rather than being distracted by negative headlines, office workers see beyond the AI hype. This is an evolution, not a revolution......employees are identifying what AI should be used for; learning skills, automating processes, and outsourcing routine tasks to focus on more strategic efforts. AI is changing the world, and our research shows office workers are open to the true potential this incredible technology offers on a practical level."
The CTO at Jitterbit, Manoj Chaudhary, added: "AI is evolving the workplace by automating routine tasks and unlocking new opportunities for office workers. This transformative technology empowers employees to focus on strategic and creative endeavors, fostering innovation and enhancing productivity. By infusing AI into low-code solutions, any employee can integrate endpoints, automate systems and even build applications using AI assistants that can converse in natural language."
