According to a research report from the European Central Bank (ECB), there is no reason to be concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over our jobs, but it is unclear how this latest wave of automation will affect our lives and our wages.
After assessing nine years of data gathered across 16 European countries, the ECB found that high-skilled jobs in fields impacted by AI may grow by between 2.6 and 4.3 percent. "We find a positive association between AI-enabled automation and changes in employment," the study states.
Low-skilled jobs may also be safe, in Europe and Africa at least. "For occupations where average educational attainment is in the low and medium-skill groups, AI exposure does not seem to shake things up significantly," the document adds.
The team notes in their paper [PDF] that the findings are at odds with the history of automation, which usually results in a decrease in the number of low- and medium-skill jobs available as technology replaces manual tasks.
The study's data "suggests neutral to slightly negative impacts" on wages, but the ECB was unable to find a "clear signal" on which to base a prediction when examining AI's effect on wages. The reason for that isn't made clear in the research.
Another finding in the document is that skilled workers and younger professionals are gaining the most as AI proliferates in the workplace.
AI is aid to cut a lot of jobs in future
The boffins caution that "these results do not amount to an acquittal" of the risks AI may pose to the future of the labor market and advise caution in applying their findings.
"AI-enabled technologies continue to be developed and adopted. We have yet to witness the majority of their effects on employment and wages, and consequently on growth and equality," the team says.
And don't think this applies to the US too The researchers cautioned that the conclusions about the EU's labor market do not necessarily apply to the United States, noting that their results contradict previous findings by American researchers.
A study on the impact of AI on U.S. employment found that generative AI could eliminate 2.4 million jobs by 2030. Big tech companies like IBM are also citing AI as a reason to lay off thousands of people whose jobs could be replaced by software.
According to an ECB report, US data indicates that low-skilled workers are not as safe as those in Europe, and US indicators indicate that AI "tends to reduce the number of low-skilled jobs." It is said that they are doing so.
The authors of the report compare the results with the situation in France and say there is a positive relationship between automation and the increase in employment of unskilled workers in recent years.
"Our findings regarding the positive relationship between AI automation and employment should be considered with caution," the researchers conclude.
“These results may not be transferable into the future, especially if the direction of AI technology focuses on automating tasks and reducing the creation of new tasks.”
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