AI could affect 300 million full-time jobs worldwide—report
Artifical intelligence (AI) platforms like ChatGPT could affect 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, economists from a global investment bank said.
According to CNN International, a report from Goldman Sachs predicted that 18% of work globally could be computerized.
Administrative workers and lawyers are expected to be most affected, the report stated, while it would have "little effect" on physically demanding or outdoor occupations like construction and repair work.
Goldman Sachs economists noted that two-thirds of current jobs in the United States and Europe "are exposed to some degree of AI automation," and AI could do up to a quarter of all work "completely."
They warned that if generative AI "delivers on its promised capabilities, the labor market could face significant disruption." ChatGPT makes use of the generative AI technology, which includes executing images, designs, or programming code almost instantaneously upon a simple request.
But while workplaces may shift, Goldman Sachs economists said widespread adoption of AI could ultimately increase labor productivity and boost a country's economy.
"Although the impact of AI on the labor market is likely to be significant, most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by AI," they said. "[F]ollowing AI adoption, [industries] will likely apply at least some of their freed-up capacity toward productive activities that increase output."
ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based research and development company.
It has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate finely crafted texts like essays or poems in just seconds, thanks to the large language models or LLM technology that's part of generative AI.
ChatGPT, as well as other chatbots, has already been a cause for concern, especially in the academe where some students allegedly use them to write papers and answer exams.
In Geneva in Switzerland, dozens of educators in a teaching workshop sounded the alarm over ChatGPT "upending the world of education as we know it."
"It is worrying," Silvia Antonuccio, who teaches Italian and Spanish, told AFP after the workshop. "I don't feel at all capable to distinguish between a text written by a human and one written by ChatGPT."