GENEVA (AN) — Generative artificial intelligence is more likely to aid the workplace by automating some tasks instead of entirely replacing the things that people do for a living, a new U.N. study finds.
The International Labor Organization's global analysis published on Monday looks at how generative AI – technology that can produce various types of content – might affect job quantity and quality.
It suggests that most jobs and industries are only partly exposed to automation and are more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by the latest wave of Generative AI, such as ChatGPT.
"Therefore, the greatest impact of this technology is likely to not be job destruction but rather the potential changes to the quality of jobs, notably work intensity and autonomy," ILO says.
Generative AI models use deep learning and neural network techniques to analyze patterns and arrangements in sets of data – growing more sophisticated with time.
Prompted by a person, online tools and chatbots can use generative AI to turn users' questions or instructions into human-like responses in text, images, code and other types of content.
Big tech companies opened the floodgates this year following the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E programs and natural language processing. Though it can boost creativity and innovation, the technology also makes it easier for people to intentionally spread falsehoods by making fake content appear real.
Clerical work has the greatest exposure to the development of generative AI, the ILO says, with nearly a quarter of tasks highly exposed and more than half facing medium-level exposure.
In other occupations, a small share of the tasks performed by managers, professionals and technicians were seen as highly exposed and about a quarter had medium exposure levels.
