Many have wondered about — and feared — the impact that gen AI will have on labor markets. Some compare it to past innovations, like robots, whose effects have been relatively modest, while others have forecasted that its impacts will be more long-ranging, given gen AI’s fundamental ability to improve itself over time.
Today, advances in gen AI and natural language processing, such as ChatGPT, are transforming many industries and raising similar concerns. However, unlike past automation technologies, gen AI has the unique potential to impact all job sectors, particularly given its fundamental ability to improve its capabilities over time — which promises to affect the workforce in ways that go beyond simple job replacement.is an Assistant Professor at Imperial College London Business School.