According to the latest survey by Epoch AI and Ipsos, a poll of 2,000 U.S. adults found that one in five full-time U.S. workers said artificial intelligence (AI) has taken over certain tasks in their jobs. This survey result has sparked intense discussions about AI automation.
The survey showed that about half of the respondents used AI in the past week, whether for personal or work-related reasons. Among full-time workers, 20% indicated that AI had replaced part of their work, while 15% said AI had created new tasks that they would not have otherwise taken on.
This suggests that the phenomenon of job displacement caused by AI is accelerating, surpassing the effects of AI enhancing human productivity. Nichols Miailhe, a global leader in AI policy, said in an interview with NBC: "When one in five workers says AI has already replaced part of their job, we can begin to discuss how the labor market is being restructured in real time. The displacement phenomenon seems to have surpassed the augmentation phenomenon, which should concern us: the policy window shaping how AI transforms work may close faster than most governments realize."
The findings of this study are supported by an economic survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and several top universities, which found that economists are gradually revising their models to address major changes in the labor market.
However, the authenticity of these data at the economic level is becoming increasingly urgent. Although there are many reasons to question the narrative of AI automation, the application of AI in the workplace still faces many challenges, such as efforts to replace human workers at companies like Amazon, which are slowing down overall productivity.
Gary Marcus, a well-known skeptic of automation and critic of AI, pointed out that employment data based on AI is not reasonable. AI automation experiments did not sustain over time, for example, the fintech company Klarna had to rehire human employees after 11 months of attempts.
In discussing the widespread adoption of AI in the workplace, perhaps more attention should be paid to whether AI completes tasks as efficiently as humans. The consensus among experts is gradually forming that AI does not demonstrate the expected productivity in this regard.
Key Points:
- 🤖 20% of full-time workers say AI has replaced part of their job tasks.
- 📈 AI has created new job tasks, but the displacement phenomenon has exceeded the effect of enhancing productivity.
- 🏢 Experts are cautious about AI's productivity, questioning its actual performance in the workplace.
