AI is unlikely to destroy most jobs, but office workers are at risk, ILO says

The explosion of interest in generative artificial intelligence and its chatbots has fueled fears of job destruction.

Generative AI probably will not take over most people`s jobs entirely but will instead automate a portion of their duties, freeing them up to do other tasks, a U.N. study said on Monday.

It warned, however, that clerical work would likely be the hardest hit, potentially hitting female employment harder, given women`s over-representation in this sector, especially in wealthier countries.
An explosion of interest in generative AI and its chatbot applications has sparked fears over job destruction, similar to those that emerged when the moving assembly line was introduced in the early 1900s and after mainframe computers in the 1950s.

However, the study produced by the International Labour Organization concludes that: “Most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by AI.”
This means that “the most important impact of the technology is likely to be of augmenting work”, it adds.
The occupation likely to be most affected by GenAI – capable of generating text, images, sounds, animation, 3D models and other data – is clerical work, where about a quarter of tasks are highly exposed to potential automation, the study says.
However, most other occupations, such as managers and salespeople, are only marginally exposed, he said.
Nevertheless, a UN agency report warned that the effects of generative AI on affected workers could still be “brutal.”
“Thus, our research should not be seen as a reassuring voice for policy makers, but rather as a call to use politics to meet the technological changes that lie ahead.” the magazine said.