Generative AI in the Workplace
-By Shreyansh Krishna
Introduction
Generative AI has been rapidly embraced by organisations and the public since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. According to recent McKinsey research, Generative AI could boost the global economy by up to $4.4 trillion every year. Organisations need to assess the impact of Generative AI on their workflows, processes and workforce to take advantage of this growth opportunity. However, this opportunity comes with several challenges. There is concern over its negative impact on the workplace such as displacement of workers, propping of legal issues, information leakage and more. The objective of this article is to identify aspects of the workplace likely to be influenced by Generative AI.
A Look into Research Reports
Gen AI is likely to improve the productivity of workers. According to a forecast by Goldman Sachs Research, generative AI “could propel global GDP growth by 7 per cent, or nearly $7 trillion and increase productivity growth by 1.5 per cent points over a ten-year period.” Through the integration of training data spread across various sources and the massive processing power of algorithms, generative AI assists workers in reducing task completion time and improving output quality.[1]
The ILO study, Generative AI and Jobs: A Global Analysis of Potential Effects on Job Quantity and Quality, has pointed out that Gen AI will complement industries and jobs that are not fully automated at present. It will not lead to job destruction rather there will be changes in work intensity and autonomy.[2] A Gartner study found that 47% of digital workers struggle to find the information or data they need to effectively perform their jobs, presenting a potential opportunity for AI-powered tools and collaboration technology.[3] Besides helping employees engaged in the digital arena, Accenture’s report, A New Era of Generative AI for Everyone, points out that Generative AI is poised to emerge as a vital collaborator in the creative realm, facilitating novel approaches to engage and captivate audiences while infusing real-time personalization, design research, production design, visual identity, naming, copy generation and testing, and production design.[4]
Interestingly, leading digital news publisher Axios, in its recent survey on the use of Gen AI in workplaces, has found that employees are using it for writing emails, translating policies and procedure manuals and other important company information in their mother tongue to comprehend the content better.[5] This is greatly improving workplace communication and the development of AI software will improve it further.
Gen AI will lead to occupational shifts. There will likely be 12 million occupational transitions by 2030, a senior partner of McKinsey, Kweilin Ellingrud estimates. A majority of those jobs would fall into four categories: customer service, food service, production, and office support.[6] These workers will need upskilling and reskilling to ensure a smooth occupational shift.
For organisations that require large amounts of data to be maintained for regulatory compliance, Generative AI outputs can be used to generate first drafts, with employees and management making required adjustments before filing with regulatory authorities.[7] Thus, in the future, generative artificial intelligence will improve governance by preventing fraud, enhancing regulatory compliance, and proactively recognising risk.
The Road Ahead
The likely role of Gen AI in increasing employee productivity, job efficiency and effectiveness, easing communication, and identifying training needs is being researched besides ensuring regulatory compliance. The role of human-centric Gen AI in improving mental well-being in the workplace is yet to be researched. In addition, the AI application can make it possible to determine a variety of problems being experienced by workers by analysing staff data concerning their stress levels, late coming, unnecessary leaves, and so on. Red flags can be identified by collating information from public and private Gen AI tools. Another area where Gen AI can influence the workplace is by offering better work-life balance. Organisations should have teams to develop AI tools that can lead to learning of work processes and increased job efficiency. To address the problem of workers who fear displacement due to the introduction of Gen AI, it is important to provide them with upskilling and reskilling opportunities and counselling to change behaviours and mindsets.
There is a possibility that Generative AI will bring about a fundamental shift in the ecosystem of consumer interactions. It is feasible for live team members to be assisted with enhanced data while direct engagement can be automated.
The heavy flow of investments in Gen AI is on the anvil.[8] In the past year, technology heavyweights such as Google, Adobe, and Meta have released several GAI tools. A Google feature enables users to write emails and edit photos with the technology. Several image-generating tools have been launched by Adobe to compete with front-runners such as Midjourney. To help advertisers create several versions of ads, Meta launched a generative AI tool.
The introduction of Gen AI in the workplace is not without concerns. Besides accuracy concerns regarding information being disseminated, data privacy is also an issue. The semiconductor division of Samsung has given its engineers permission to use ChatGPT to verify the source code. It banned the use of Gen AI by its employees after discovering that three employees had accidentally shared confidential information while using ChatGPT for help at work.[9] Getty Images, a firm that sells stock images, has filed a lawsuit against Stability AI Inc., an artificial intelligence startup. The lawsuit accused Stability AI of improperly exploiting more than 12 million Getty photos to train its Stable Diffusion AI image-generation system.[10] In recent months, many examples of deep fakes made by generative AI have gone viral on various social media platforms. It is because the images that can be produced by this technology are so lifelike, that it has been successful in fooling millions of people all over the world. To take an example, in March of 2023, computer-generated images of Donald Trump being taken into custody began to spread throughout the internet. To address these concerns, strict ethical guidelines and robust safeguards by companies besides regulatory frameworks are necessary.
Citations
[1] Dykes, B. (2023, April 12). Generative AI: Why An AI-Enabled Workforce Is A Productivity Game Changer. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentdykes/2023/04/12/generative-ai-why-an-ai-enabled-workforce-is-a-productivity-game-changer/?sh=65c57c4c3a53
[2] Generative AI likely to augment rather than destroy jobs. (2023, August 21). https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_890740/lang–en/index.html
[3] Gartner survey reveals 47% of digital workers struggle to find the INF. (2023, May 10). Gartner. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-05-10-gartner-survey-reveals-47-percent-of-digital-workers-struggle-to-find-the-information-needed-to-effectively-perform-their-jobs
[4] Transform your work with Generative AI. (n.d.). https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/blogs-careers/how-generative-ai-will-transform-your-work
[5] How AI will impact workplace communication. (n.d.). https://www.axioshq.com/insights/how-ai-will-impact-workplace-communication
[6] Generative AI: How will it affect future jobs and workflows? (2023b, September 21). McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/generative-ai-how-will-it-affect-future-jobs-and-workflows
[7] Sears, J. (2023, October 9). How artificial intelligence can augment a people-centered workforce. https://www.ey.com/en_gl/workforce/how-artificial-intelligence-can-augment-a-people-centered-workforce
[8] Lepcha M. (2023, 12 October). The Ripple Effect of Generative AI in the Workplace.
https://www.techopedia.com/the-ripple-effect-of-generative-ai-in-the-workplace
[9] Desk, T. (2023, May 2). Samsung bans employees from using ChatGPT-like technology following data leak. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/artificial-intelligence/samsung-bans-employees-from-using-generative-ai-8587999/
[10] Brittain, B. (2023, February 6). Getty Images lawsuit says Stability AI misused photos to train AI. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/legal/getty-images-lawsuit-says-stability-ai-misused-photos-train-ai-2023-02-06/