The advancement in technology poses several benefits: efficiency and effectiveness, leverage to perform challenging tasks, boosting human creativity, and saving on time and costs. However, with overreliance on technology, there is a danger of people losing jobs to the sophisticated developments of artificial superintelligence. Generative AI causes unemployment by automating repetitive and routine tasks, which makes some human skills obsolete.
Generative AI contributes to unemployment through automation. A study conducted by (Anakpo et al. 2021) proved the significant relationship between automation and unemployment. The study also suggested an extensive focus on learning and skill development to help individuals attain competency over the ever-rising technological automation. Automation might lead to the loss of jobs through the adoption of self-service mechanisms like virtual assistants, chatbots, smart manufacturing, and autonomous machines like vehicles. By doing so, individuals with expertise in such fields will be laid off due to the cost reduction associated with using technology. Thus, incorporating any of these technological algorithms into organizational systems and software will lead to refined ways of doing things that will reduce the workforce required to complete the routine and repetitive tasks that could be linked in the system to be easily tackled and compiled. Thus, humans should develop new strategies to help preserve their comparative advantage over technology in certain tasks. Such strategies require a joint effort from all social actors, demanding work presented and provided with levels of humanity and creativity.
Generative AI also leads to unemployment through structural changes. Digital transformations make some repetitive and routine tasks obsolete, making companies generate new strategies to perform tasks with reduced costs, higher efficiency, and effectiveness. Through adopting new technologies, new skill sets emerge as AI technologies automate routine tasks. There is an increased demand for skills related to data analysis, programming, machine learning, and AI development; jobs that require creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence become more valuable, while those that primarily involve repetitive, manual tasks may decline in demand. With the shift in particular skills, new jobs emerge that require new individuals, who might even work remotely, which saves on-premise costs that lead to laying off individuals. Another way structural changes lead to unemployment is due to automation redefining job roles into a single system that can witness one individual performing multiple tasks, which leads to the dismantling of other departments. Individuals need to acquire new digital skills through education and retraining, adapt to new advancements, take advantage of them, and adopt ethical considerations regarding the use of AI (Wach et al., 2023).
Unemployment is also experienced with the efficiency and effectiveness of technology. There has been an increased overdependence on technology due to the advancements that make it vital in organizational performance. The advancements manage to optimize the potential of systems in all departments to be automated and workable despite the challenges and criticisms. For instance, in a company dealing with production and manufacturing, automated packaging software saves on costs and time and increases completion and delivery times, which is profitable to the firm. Customers can place orders, pay for, and get instant deliveries without moving, which is very effective but harmful to the human workforce. Reduction and retrenchment of jobs lead to poor living standards and poverty due to poor economic and financial stability.
Lastly, generative AI can lead to the redefinition of roles through adopting new job descriptions. Chatbots and virtual assistants have affected customer service roles due to these tasks being managed by AI (Adam et al., 2020). This adoption of technology affects the delivery of products and services by introducing new and cost-effective ways of doing things. Furthermore, employees could multitask, like data entry and data analysis; an aspect that could lead to adopting new job descriptions and recruitment procedures. Rather than employing experts and consultants, the management of organizations could work with their technology experts to use AI software to optimize strategies like marketing and sales by analyzing various marketing strategies, trends, and competitive advantages. New job descriptions are also relevant in how AI requires individuals with specific skills, like AI engineers and Machine Learning specialists, that could disregard individuals with experience in the field since new and fresh graduates would possess these skills. AI supplements human capabilities with better technological advancements that might render humanistic skills useless. Thus, it is critical for humans to always learn of any advancements and keep improving their skill sets to gain leverage over artificial superintelligence.
In summary, despite the various benefits of AI on employment, it can cause unemployment through automation of tasks, structural changes, outsmarting efficiency and effectiveness, and redefining job descriptions. Hence, it is the responsibility of individuals, organizations, and governments to adopt strategies that ensure job security for individuals. Moreover, every person has to learn to adapt to the various advancements and gain a new skill set to safeguard their jobs. Generative AI is an ever-growing field that will require unique skills to help individuals gain leverage and comparative advantage over its sophistication. Ethical principles concerning the use and overuse of technology will also help solve unemployment.
Adam, Martin, Michael Wessel, and Alexander Benlian. “AI-based chatbots in customer service and their effects on user compliance.” Electronic Markets 31.2 (2021): 427-445.
Anakpo, Godfred, and Umakrishnan Kollamparambil. “Effect of automation on unemployment: The case of Southern Africa.” Development Southern Africa 39.4 (2022): 516-527.
Wach, Krzysztof, et al. “The dark side of generative artificial intelligence: A critical analysis of controversies and risks of ChatGPT.” Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review 11.2 (2023): 7-30.