Okay, let’s cut to the chase here. The hysteria around ChatGPT and its AI brethren causing a mass exodus of jobs from the market might be just that – hysteria. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the hard data. Buckle up, we’re going on a data dive.
The Unexpected Savior: Deep Learning
First off, we need to rewind to the deep learning boom of the 2010s. Remember that? The time when the very words ‘deep learning’ sent shivers down the spines of employees across industries, fearing they were about to be rendered obsolete by lines of code? Well, turns out, the scare might have been a little overblown.
The economists from institutions no less than the European Central Bank, Spain’s central bank, and the universities of Oxford and Pittsburgh took a good, hard look at the job market across several EU countries from 2011 to 2019. You know what they found? Deep learning, instead of decimating jobs, actually created opportunities.
A Study in Contrasts
Hold on, I hear you say. How can AI, designed to automate tasks, actually lead to more jobs? Welcome to the paradox of the 21st century, folks. The data tells us that in industries where AI could be most useful, there wasn’t a job reduction at all. In fact, those high-skilled jobs that were supposed to be the first against the wall, like data-driven white-collar work, actually saw an increase of about 5% in employment.
The Fear Factor
The fear of new tech is as old as tech itself. It’s understandable. Change is scary. But, the economic landscape is complex. Automation can increase demand for jobs overall, as some recent studies have shown. But if you’re not a part of the skilled labor force, well, the new tech wave might just look like a tsunami.
The Future Unknown
All this doesn’t mean we can predict with any certainty the effect of ChatGPT or other generative AI technologies. They may be too fresh on the scene to cause any significant tremors. Generative AI may be a completely different beast compared to its predecessors. It’s already causing some ripples, with some copywriters having to switch careers because AI is doing their job. Even publications are dipping their toes in AI-generated content.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. ChatGPT and its ilk are far from being perfect colleagues. They can make up facts, reinforce biases, and can generally misbehave. Remember the doom and gloom predictions about radiologists being wiped out due to the rise of deep learning in the 2010s? That prediction hasn’t exactly aged well.
