The research, from technology companies ServiceNow and Pearson, reveals that the retail sector will be the most heavily impacted by AI, with 323,000 full-time jobs to go.
However, Brian Walker, CEO of retail consultancy the Retail Doctor Group, told news.com.au that both the forecast job losses and the suggested time frame were “ambitious”. Mr Walker said that while AI would increasingly be used by retailers to assist with supply chain management it was “less likely to replace workers in the customer-facing space and certainly not to the level that this would indicate”.“That’s been with us for about 30 years and we’re still only at about 70 per cent of retailers that are web enabled.
However, ServiceNow claims additional “creative and collaborative” jobs will result from the rise of technology.