AI Isn’t Doing Entire Jobs Yet—But It Is Being Integrated Into Work
Key Takeaways
- Job website Indeed found that postings mentioning AI grew to 20 times what it was at the beginning of the year.
- Despite the rapid growth, job postings using AI keywords are still a small portion of the overall job market.
- In its analysis, Indeed found that AI is not taking over full jobs, and is instead being integrated more into work.
The growing hype around artificial intelligence (AI) has raised questions for employers and workers alike: Employers want to know if advanced AI tools can boost productivity, and some workers wonder if they’ll be replaced by a mindless chatbot.
So-called generative AI algorithms like ChatGPT, which can respond to user prompts by spitting out text that can seem like what a human would write, are starting to make an impact on the job market, albeit a tiny one, according to data from job website Indeed. By the end of October, there were 20 times as many job postings mentioning generative AI-related keywords than when the year began.
The rapid rise of AI technology has alarmed many government officials and labor leaders, who worry about the possible abuse of the technology and its ability to displace workers. In late October, President Joe Biden called for regulators to establish safeguards on the use of AI. The potential use of AI in scriptwriting was a major reason that Hollywood writers went on strike this summer.
Indeed’s job posting data may provide a clue about where the technology is headed because keywords capture not only jobs developing AI but, more important, ones in which workers are expected to use AI tools on the job.
According to Indeed’s analysis, AI isn’t fully taking over entire jobs as of yet but could be used for some specific job functions, like writing marketing copy, for instance.
“If we do see continued growth in that area of job postings … that could be an indication there’s increasing usage of those tools, that they’re spreading throughout the labor market,” said Nick Bunker, director of research at Indeed’s hiring lab research unit.