As featured in the Charlotte Business Journal.
As artificial intelligence increases productivity, employees must prove they are more than just time on the clock.
During the Q&A section of my public presentations, there is always a question about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Sometimes, it is as simple as “what about AI?”Other times, it can be so specific I wonder if the person asking the question thought they were attending a Star Trek convention as opposed to a 45-minute talk on the economy.
Regardless, AI seems to be on everyone’s mind, and for good reason. After all, if businesses can use technology to replace workers, why wouldn’t they do so? AI programs don’t ask for paid time off or call in sick. They don’t require healthcare insurance or some form of retirement plan, and they don’t expect some form of work/life balance.
So when folks ask for my thoughts on AI, I usually take it to mean they want to know how secure their job actually is.
Here is my honest answer, and plenty of folks reading this might not like it. The vast majority of us are easily replaceable. To be sure, there are a select few who are so clever, innovative and entrepreneurial they don’t have to worry about the competition, whether it be from a computer or another person. They are just that good.
But the rest of us? Yes, AI might put you out of a job. So could someone who is willing to do your job, at the same level of output, for less money. Shoot, if there isn’t someone in your organization who wants your job, you need to find some new associates pronto.
Even before any of us had ever heard of AI, we were fungible whether we knew it or cared to admit it to ourselves. The scary thing about this new technology is that it makes our own fungibility glaringly apparent. Laughingly, we already knew about our co-workers’.
So, is AI going to take your job? That’s really the question, isn’t it?
Employers will unlikely start handing out pink slips to productive associates simply because AI exists. The more productive you are, the safer your position will likely be. That has historically always been the case.
However, what about the marginal employees? The ones who say things like “that isn’t in my job description” or “they don’t pay me enough to do that.” Usually, they are the same ones who fail to realize their employer isn’t paying them for their time, but rather their output. As a result, they rarely raise their hand to take on additional responsibilities or take the steps necessary to grow in their career.
Every organization has these types of workers. The economy is littered with them. The clock punchers and the “me versus them” crowd.
Yes, they should be worried about AI, but perhaps not in the way you might think.
In all probability, because of AI, businesses may choose not to replace workers lost due to standard attrition or retirement. That is a far more likely scenario than wholesale firings or mass layoffs. My goodness.
After all, someone must remain behind to implement and use the AI, right? Probably the more productive ones? If so, do employers believe they can get double or triple the amount of productivity from that worker without paying them more? Perhaps significantly more?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Those who are willing to learn and leverage AI to increase productivity will likely have greater job prospects and a higher paycheck in the future. Seriously. AI is a wonderful tool to help workers to reduce their fungibility, if only they are willing to do so.
So, will there be job losses? Sure, we will have some. However, the increased productivity that AI promises will likely create new technologies, products and services that will require new workers. Then the whole process will start over again, as it has in the past, countless times.
In the end, what about AI? What about your job? Learn it. Use it. Let AI make you that much productive and valuable. If you don’t want to do so, you will likely get whatever is coming to you.
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