AI and Work in 2023 and Beyond: A Retrospective

2023 was a banner year for artificial intelligence, with the technology exploding into the mainstream and being more accessible by the public than ever before. Let’s explore how what we’ve seen in the past year in terms of AI has changed things for workers and workplaces everywhere.

AI is Here to Stay… Despite Some Companies’ Best Efforts

It wasn’t that long ago that the idea of AI having any kind of presence in the workplace was laughably impractical. The past year has shown a complete reversal of this, with clear benefits—as well as a few concerns and downsides—coming to the surface as businesses have adapted to the capabilities these new technologies enable. Surveys indicate that a third of organizations are using generative AI—artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to generate new content of various types (for instance, ChatGPT)—in at least one aspect of their business operations, be it marketing, sales, customer support, or otherwise.

On the other side of the coin, many companies have actively discouraged the use of AI, blocking access to the tools that are currently available online.

AI is Already Changing More Jobs Than Expected

For a long time, there was a tacit assumption that artificial intelligence would be good for taking rote jobs off of our plate, but knowledge-based jobs would still need a human being to take responsibility for them. The past year has directly challenged that assumption.

In addition to physical automation, there are now systems capable of content generation, which is now creating some concerns that more jobs could potentially be threatened than we had assumed. That said, there are a few sectors that are still relatively secure. Those that require high social intelligence and other soft skills are (for the time being) relatively safe. There are also many trade jobs that are very, very challenging to automate, simply because machines are currently unable to match the required skills and problem-solving capabilities.

Many workers are also taking advantage of these unexpected capabilities, using AI to boost their own effectiveness. It’s also clear that AI will require workers to have newly developing specialties and skills… someone needs to train the AI, after all.

In Short, AI is Going to Be a Part of Work…

…so it’s important that you’re ready to embrace it and its capabilities, just like the rest of the IT your business currently utilizes. Directive is here to help you take full advantage of your technology. Find out what we can do to help by giving us a call at 607.433.2200, or by exploring the rest of our website.