Generative AI is already changing the way in which lots of us work – and can completely revolutionize some roles.
According to a daring recent forecast, over 92% of data and communications technology (ICT) jobs will likely be either significantly or moderately transformed by AI.
This claim comes from the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium, which published the brand new comprehensive report: “The impact of generative AI.“ The consortium was founded in April by a few of the world's largest technology corporations – including Google, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Intel, Cisco, Accenture, Indeed and Eightfold AI – to resolve AI talent challenges.
“Gen AI has the potential to reinvent fundamental facets of our every day lives,” said Ryan Oakes, head of world health and public services at Accenture“We are addressing the opportunities and challenges posed to the workforce by the increasing adoption of generative AI.”
Seven “skilled groups” most affected by the upheaval
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of AI on the workforce, the consortium analyzed 47 specific ICT job roles across seven “job families.” These families included business and management, cybersecurity, data science, design and user experience, infrastructure and operations, software development, and testing and quality assurance.
Roles were classified as low, medium or high transformation. Medium and high implies that not less than 50% of core skills are impacted by AI. Jobs were also analyzed by seniority level. The consortium found that 96% of entry-level positions and 84% of mid-level positions are significantly impacted by AI.
While AI will impact all job roles to some extent, the consortium predicts that the largest changes will occur in business and management, design and user experience, and testing and quality assurance.
In business and management, for instance, 62.5% of roles were classified as having high transformation potential and 37.5% as having medium transformation potential. In on a regular basis work, AI may also help develop product strategies, provide predictive analytics, develop reports, manage large-scale projects and automate quite a few processes.
Looking ahead, the consortium says employees in any respect levels of the hierarchy will need to amass skills in AI-driven competitive evaluation, AI integration strategies, machine learning (ML), prompt engineering, data science and visualization, and natural language processing (NLP). Other skills with increasing relevance will include understanding the product development cycle, agile methodologies, process improvement, predictive analytics, data management, success KPIs, and statistical models.
Less relevant skills include basic data evaluation, manual data cleansing and preparation, task scheduling, basic reporting, documentation maintenance, and KPI monitoring.
In the realm of design and user experience, a high degree of transformation is anticipated for 66.7% of roles and a moderate degree of transformation for 33.3%. The consortium points out that AI can automate routine tasks, streamline workflows, facilitate data evaluation and enable “hyper-personalization”.
Workers will need recent (and improved) skills in ML, prompt engineering, proprietary AI design, Scikit, data evaluation and interpretation, product design, and even lean manufacturing, the consortium says. Skills which might be chucking up the sponge, meanwhile, include basic programming, manual content creation, and research.
Lydia Logan, Vice President of Global Education and Human Resources at IBMCommenting on the general report, the report said: “Now everyone within the ICT sector – from students to employees to employers – has the info on which jobs will change, how they are going to change and what individuals and employers can do to organize for this variation and remain competitive within the evolving global labour market.”
Shifts in competence require rapid motion by all involved
Across borders, the consortium identified ten increasingly relevant competencies:
- AI ethics and responsible AI
- AI competence
- Fast engineering
- Architecture of huge language models (LLM)
- Agile methods
- Data evaluation
- ML
- Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
- TensorFlow
- NLP
On the opposite hand, the next 10 technical skills are expected to lose relevance:
- Basic programming and languages
- Content creation
- Data management
- Research information
- Documentation maintenance
- SQL
- Manual XML processing
- Manual Perl scripting
- Integration software
- Manual malware evaluation
The consortium stresses that corporations need to take a position in AI training to spice up their competitiveness and innovation. This will help them attract and retain talent, while also considering worker training needs and feedback.
According to the consortium, academic institutions should, for his or her part, update their curriculum to incorporate AI technologies and offer compact certificate programs. They also needs to prioritize investments in work-based learning initiatives, flexible learning pathways and collaboration with regional higher education institutions.
Employees even have a responsibility, and will “embrace lifelong learning to remain relevant,” the consortium advises. Workers must proactively hunt down reskilling and upskilling opportunities through employer programs, union-sponsored training, or online courses or certifications. And entry-level employees can reap the benefits of internships, mentoring, and hands-on projects.
In the longer term, the consortium will explore public-private partnerships to contribute to an “AI skills taxonomy” that defines skills and assigns roles and defines required competency levels, explained Francine Katsoudas, EVP and Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer at Cisco.
The consortium also plans to launch an AI Workforce Playbook, she said, designed to assist corporations of all sizes proactively reskill and upskill their workforce, drawing on insights from stakeholders equivalent to unions, coalitions, academia, governments and, just as importantly, underserved communities.
In addition, Katsoudas said the consortium will proceed to work with G7 governments on an AI motion plan.
“AI represents an unprecedented opportunity for a way technology can profit humanity in every way,” she said. “And we must take targeted motion to be certain that people aren’t left behind.”
