Key Challanges Employees Face with the Rise of AI

Introduction

Job Uncertainty and Fear of Replacement

When talking about uncertainty around AI, the overwhelming amount of studies done on this subject lately talk about fear of replacement that will follow more advanced automation.

• One of the key challenges that employees face when it comes to AI driven businesses is the fear of losing their jobs and being replaced by AI .
• Americans are more than twice as likely to express concerns (72 %) than enthusiasm (33 %) when it comes to implementing AI to perform human tasks .
• Employees with a graduate degree were less worried than those without (31 % vs 19 %) and workers in a laboratory environment were more concerned than workers in an office environment. These workers also did not believe that the lost jobs would be replaced by a similar amount of new jobs.
• The difference between work environments was further investigated and results suggest that workers were more afraid of being replaced by AI when the automation potential of their industry was high.

These are only a few examples of the vast amount of research that has been done on this topic in the last few years. The findings are very similar across all articles we have found – employees fear that they will lose their jobs, and with that in many cases, their livelihood, following the ongoing evolution of AI in the workplace. This fear can quickly turn into resistance against the emerging technology: What’s there to do?

Skills Gap and Knowledge Sharing

If the problem lies in uncertainty, the most obvious answer seems to be in sharing and advancing knowledge – right? Creating understanding of the underlying processes, building knowledge on the subject and investing in up- and reskilling of employees to meet the changing demands of the market. In a qualitative analysis of what key skills will be needed in an AI-driven workforce, the following emerged victorious:

Data Analysis & Visualisation

Advanced technology can rapidly create and calculate huge amounts of data. To analyze and prepare them in a way that is relevant and meaningful for the audience, be it managers, customers or stakeholders at a conference will continue to be a crucial skill in order to bring value to complex data.

Systems and Design Thinking

Understanding complex problems and systems and being able to view them from different perspectives is necessary in order to further improve AI systems and functionalities. It is also integral to creating creative solutions for complex problems. 

Data-Driven Decision Making

While AI can analyze data more quickly than we can, it is still necessary to understand that data, derive meaning from it and through that understanding make informed choices.

While these three skills are used and developed in strong collaboration with technology and specifically AI, there are some key skills that will always be a the center of human strength and capability:

Leadership

The ability to motivate and inspire others to work towards a shared vision or goal, to empower others to learn and grow and to guide others through times of uncertainty is a skill that cannot be outsourced to AI. It is a skill that everyone can develop, be it an employer or employee, and that will help overcome uncertainty.

Communication

Exchanging knowledge, ideas, doubts and fears with each other is another key skill that everyone can leverage in navigating change. It is the base for collaborating with both other humans and AI and learning from each other.

Interpersonal Skills

Building rapport and a trusting relationship with colleagues, customers, and any other stakeholders, is the base of all collaboration.

Conclusion

As presented in this article, one of the key factors that can lead to resistance from the workforce against the broad adoption of AI in the workplace is uncertainty and the underlying fear of their job being made obsolete by the introduction of more advanced AI systems. Contemporary research suggests that this can be reduced by actively sharing knowledge, pushing education and training in key areas and developing skills that will become more relevant in the coming years.

Change is never easy and often scary, especially when linked to real fears, like the loss of income. It is how we, as a society, choose to react to the inevitable change and adapt to the new circumstances within our workforce – be it as an employee that develops new skills, a company that adapts processes or a government that creates structures that support this new era of work.

And just like with any other big transformation of the status quo, there are two ways to face the coming changes; by resisting and refusing to adapt, or by embracing them and riding the wave of new opportunities.