The Impact of AI on the Future of Work
By Rose Dunderdale
The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to shift the modern work environment in both concerning and exciting ways. Defined as a field that creates intelligent systems for achieving human-defined goals, AI is positioned to transform industrial landscapes, with 63% of organizations planning to adopt some form of AI within the next three years.[i] A caveat to the rising adoption rate persists in man’s ability to effectively integrate this powerful technology with existing human knowledge and education systems, governed by a code of ethical pedagogy.
A particularly intriguing subset of AI is Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), which can create entirely new content based on user prompts.[ii] In many ways, this portion of AI threatens and discourages an increasing number of creatives (content creators, writers, musicians and other producers) throughout the global workforce. Additionally, the potential for revolutionary discoveries and innovation is limitless, but also raises concerns about ownership, authenticity, and merit.
The future of work is a promising one that relies heavily on what we, the workforce leaders and regulators, say and do with the tools at our disposal. We must adapt to our environment– adopting new styles, tools, and mindsets to survive and thrive during this work paradigm shift. The age of manual labor, especially in data-heavy roles that involve data collection, mining, and manipulation, is transitioning from human hands to circuit boards and software. As of late, states like California are having an increasingly difficult time combating tech lobbyists and Silicon Valley to pass effective legislation that protects the public workforce from potential negative outcomes from AI learning models.[iii]
While many may ascribe this transformation as a threat to job security, I pose a two-part question: (a) How can individual firms improve the adoption of advanced tools in the workplace, and (b) Will we foster a workforce development movement centered around skilled, innovative labor or resist change and allow machines to learn for us?
The future of work is not guaranteed or promised to anyone, just as equality of opportunity can be assured, but not equality of outcome.
The emergence of a suite of new generative AI tools can be used by HR to help their employees navigate rapid changes in a person’s work-life, whether they be: increases in performance expectations or one-to-multiple layoff periods – through disciplined training in prompt engineering and problem formulation. Prompt engineering, as a characteristic of generative artificial intelligence, “…is a comprehensive discipline within artificial intelligence that involves the systematic design, refinement, and optimization of prompts and knowledge of the underlying Generative Artificial Intelligence System."[iv] This design process steers AI systems toward generating desired outputs and enhancing human-AI interactions.
Figure 1: AI-created Design for a Stage
On the other side of the coin is problem formulation which “emphasizes defining the problem by delineating its focus, scope, and boundaries.”[v] The article continues to elaborate stating, “Prompt engineering requires a firm grasp of a specific AI tool and linguistic proficiency while problem formulation necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the problem domain and ability to distill real-world issues.” Moreover, a new line of inquiry emerges – what do these two concepts have to do with the future of work here in the United States? Relative to the future of work, one’s ability to distill an abundance of information and create actionable strategies based on relevant information is a must-have for employees in a variety of entry-to-senior level positions across the U.S. economy. Generative AI tools can help the individual worker offset the responsibilities to distill such information (often a very time-consuming task).
Compliance and job training ought to be considered when approaching the concept of AI integration and expectation of usage in different workflows. As the number of Generative AI users continues to grow, human resource departments throughout the country are prompted to include these learning concepts (i.e. prompt engineering, problem formulation, and chat-based AI suites) in their bi-annual compliance modules. These required training may offer continuous growth opportunities and benefits that can provide individual workers with the freedom to use modern software and hardware applications to help ease their workload and push the individual worker to discover creative solutions to complex problems as they unfold in the workplace.
Figure 2: Industrial Automation Market Size (Projected) 2023-2033
On the other side of the coin is the practice of automation managed by AI. As illustrated in Figure 2, where individual work units are affected the most depends on the industry. Nevertheless, this human-less labor movement will continue to grow as traditional artificial intelligence task management systems are developed and implemented. The global industrial automation industry has proven its potential in the last 4-5 years with projected growth of 9.5% from 2024-2033.[vi] As the potential growth becomes kinetic over time, these advances in AI task management systems for automated processes can yield positive outcomes not only for automotive industries but in the healthcare industry as well, specifically in admissions, surgery, diagnostics and drug/medication production.
Therefore, if we, the members of the age of AI, information, and automation can see what’s coming down the pipe, it is our responsibility to adapt through careful planning and execution of enter-exit strategies in the workplace. Fear and anxiety among the workforce are natural when new tech is rumored to be revolutionary. Thus we, the workforce in America, must set an ethical, global precedent that we embrace change for the betterment of our country and those within its borders.
The future of work has the absolute potential to be positively affected by the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence. We can change, adapt, and thrive in this new work environment that has revealed itself to us. Nerves, emotions, and tough conversations, all features that modern robotics and software mimic, are to be at heightened states during a transition of this size. Only then can radical acceptance of emerging technologies work to our advantage.
About the author
Rose Dunderdale is a STEM MBA candidate specializing in Information Systems at Loyola University Chicago, with a focus on advancing healthcare technology through project and product development. She brings over four years of experience in healthcare administration and IT management, currently serving as an IT Asset Management Associate at Oak Street Health. An accomplished runner and advocate for the LGBTIAA+ community, Rose aspires to compete in an Ironman Triathlon, compose music, and establish a technology research firm.
By Rose Dunderdale
The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to shift the modern work environment in both concerning and exciting ways. Defined as a field that creates intelligent systems for achieving human-defined goals, AI is positioned to transform industrial landscapes, with 63% of organizations planning to adopt some form of AI within the next three years.[i] A caveat to the rising adoption rate persists in man’s ability to effectively integrate this powerful technology with existing human knowledge and education systems, governed by a code of ethical pedagogy.
A particularly intriguing subset of AI is Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), which can create entirely new content based on user prompts.[ii] In many ways, this portion of AI threatens and discourages an increasing number of creatives (content creators, writers, musicians and other producers) throughout the global workforce. Additionally, the potential for revolutionary discoveries and innovation is limitless, but also raises concerns about ownership, authenticity, and merit.
The future of work is a promising one that relies heavily on what we, the workforce leaders and regulators, say and do with the tools at our disposal. We must adapt to our environment– adopting new styles, tools, and mindsets to survive and thrive during this work paradigm shift. The age of manual labor, especially in data-heavy roles that involve data collection, mining, and manipulation, is transitioning from human hands to circuit boards and software. As of late, states like California are having an increasingly difficult time combating tech lobbyists and Silicon Valley to pass effective legislation that protects the public workforce from potential negative outcomes from AI learning models.[iii]
While many may ascribe this transformation as a threat to job security, I pose a two-part question: (a) How can individual firms improve the adoption of advanced tools in the workplace, and (b) Will we foster a workforce development movement centered around skilled, innovative labor or resist change and allow machines to learn for us?
The future of work is not guaranteed or promised to anyone, just as equality of opportunity can be assured, but not equality of outcome.
The emergence of a suite of new generative AI tools can be used by HR to help their employees navigate rapid changes in a person’s work-life, whether they be: increases in performance expectations or one-to-multiple layoff periods – through disciplined training in prompt engineering and problem formulation. Prompt engineering, as a characteristic of generative artificial intelligence, “…is a comprehensive discipline within artificial intelligence that involves the systematic design, refinement, and optimization of prompts and knowledge of the underlying Generative Artificial Intelligence System."[iv] This design process steers AI systems toward generating desired outputs and enhancing human-AI interactions.
On the other side of the coin is problem formulation which “emphasizes defining the problem by delineating its focus, scope, and boundaries.”[v] The article continues to elaborate stating, “Prompt engineering requires a firm grasp of a specific AI tool and linguistic proficiency while problem formulation necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the problem domain and ability to distill real-world issues.” Moreover, a new line of inquiry emerges – what do these two concepts have to do with the future of work here in the United States? Relative to the future of work, one’s ability to distill an abundance of information and create actionable strategies based on relevant information is a must-have for employees in a variety of entry-to-senior level positions across the U.S. economy. Generative AI tools can help the individual worker offset the responsibilities to distill such information (often a very time-consuming task).
Compliance and job training ought to be considered when approaching the concept of AI integration and expectation of usage in different workflows. As the number of Generative AI users continues to grow, human resource departments throughout the country are prompted to include these learning concepts (i.e. prompt engineering, problem formulation, and chat-based AI suites) in their bi-annual compliance modules. These required training may offer continuous growth opportunities and benefits that can provide individual workers with the freedom to use modern software and hardware applications to help ease their workload and push the individual worker to discover creative solutions to complex problems as they unfold in the workplace.
On the other side of the coin is the practice of automation managed by AI. As illustrated in Figure 2, where individual work units are affected the most depends on the industry. Nevertheless, this human-less labor movement will continue to grow as traditional artificial intelligence task management systems are developed and implemented. The global industrial automation industry has proven its potential in the last 4-5 years with projected growth of 9.5% from 2024-2033.[vi] As the potential growth becomes kinetic over time, these advances in AI task management systems for automated processes can yield positive outcomes not only for automotive industries but in the healthcare industry as well, specifically in admissions, surgery, diagnostics and drug/medication production.
Therefore, if we, the members of the age of AI, information, and automation can see what’s coming down the pipe, it is our responsibility to adapt through careful planning and execution of enter-exit strategies in the workplace. Fear and anxiety among the workforce are natural when new tech is rumored to be revolutionary. Thus we, the workforce in America, must set an ethical, global precedent that we embrace change for the betterment of our country and those within its borders.
The future of work has the absolute potential to be positively affected by the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence. We can change, adapt, and thrive in this new work environment that has revealed itself to us. Nerves, emotions, and tough conversations, all features that modern robotics and software mimic, are to be at heightened states during a transition of this size. Only then can radical acceptance of emerging technologies work to our advantage.