Is AI having a substitution effect on the job market? What should white-collar workers do?

Since this year, generative AI large models have become the most popular topic in the entire market. Facing the menacing AI, everyone does not know what their future will be like? However, recently some media revealed that AI is having a substitution effect on China’s job market. What should urban white-collar workers do when AI replaces humans?

1. Is AI having a substitution effect on the job market?

According to reports from Jiemian News, at the "Economic Forum" series of lectures held by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai School of Economics and Management, experts said that new technologies represented by artificial intelligence (AI) are having an unstoppable impact. the job market. In order to prevent AI from overly replacing the labor force, AI should be embraced rather than turned away.

Zhang Dandan, associate professor of economics at the National School of Development at Peking University, pointed out at the meeting that at present, the academic community has not yet reached a conclusion on the impact of AI on the job market. Whether it is substituted, complementary or uncertain, each person has their own opinion. However, according to her latest research, AI is having a substitution effect on China’s job market. Through a sample analysis of 1.2 million recruitment information from Zhaopin Recruitment from January 2018 to April 2023, she analyzed the newly added employment in occupations with higher AI “exposure” (the extent to which job content can be replaced by AI). Demand has dropped significantly.

Specifically, white-collar occupations such as sales, finance/auditing/taxation, education/training, software Internet development/system integration, administration/secretarial work, and customer service are highly exposed to AI and have begun to be impacted by AI.

Overall, Zhang Dandan believes that my country’s labor market has not yet made significant adaptive adjustments to new technologies such as artificial intelligence, and the negative impact on employment has already appeared. With the continuous deepening and widespread use of artificial intelligence technology, this The substitution effect shows a strengthening trend.

2. What should white-collar workers do when AI steals jobs?

With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, more and more jobs are being automated and digitized, and AI is becoming an increasingly common tool. Especially for people who perform repetitive tasks, AI may have a big impact on their careers. In this case, white-collar workers can’t help but ask: AI is having a substitution effect on the job market, what should we do?

First of all, the development of AI has gradually made many basic white-collar jobs lose their value. For example, for sales, finance/auditing/taxation, education/training, software Internet development/system integration, administration/secretarial work, and customer service, AI can be completed at a faster speed and with higher accuracy. For example, many companies are starting to use AI to automatically serve customers, eliminating the need for large numbers of customer service personnel. In terms of corporate finance, AI can quickly analyze data, identify anomalies and optimize decisions, making the work of financial personnel more efficient. Even in the creative field, AI can generate music, design artwork, etc., which are tasks that originally required human labor. Although these jobs still require human supervision and guidance, the popularity and application of AI will undoubtedly have an impact on the job market in these fields.

Secondly, AI will both replace old jobs and create new jobs. The era of AI has arrived, and the entire trend is actually unstoppable. Just as the emergence of cars will inevitably replace horse-drawn carriages, the birth of new technologies will inevitably destroy a number of old professions and give birth to a number of new ones. Although AI has replaced some basic jobs in various industries, it has also created new work areas and opportunities. For example, AI developers, AI data analysts, and intelligent manufacturing engineers are emerging occupations that require highly skilled, knowledgeable, and high-quality talents. In the future, with the continuous development of human society, new employment models and career fields will continue to emerge.

Third, the AI ​​era has arrived, and we need to learn from this era well. Only in this way can we better adapt to changes. Learning how to coexist with AI in the future is something we all need to consider. Since we cannot change the trend, why not embrace it? Facing the future work environment, we need to improve our skills and knowledge levels, and adapt to the future job market through continuous learning and improving our competitiveness. In the future AI era, the human brain still cannot be replaced, and human thinking, emotion and creativity are always irreplaceable. Therefore, we need to find and explore new career opportunities and continuously improve our professional skills and comprehensive qualities to meet future employment challenges.

At the same time, we must also understand that the development of AI technology does not happen overnight. AI still has many limitations. For example, it still requires human participation in processing abstract concepts and emotional understanding. In the AI ​​era, we need to focus on cultivating our abilities in innovative thinking, teamwork, communication, learning and leadership. These abilities and qualities cannot be replaced by AI, and are also indispensable key factors in career development. Of course, we also need to learn to cooperate with AI, give full play to our own advantages, and use AI as our assistant, not our enemy. This requires continuous exploration of new cooperation methods and models to better complete work with AI.

Learn to embrace AI and learn to survive with AI. This is what we need to do most.

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