Unleashing Potential: How AI & Automation May Actually Amplify Our Workforce

With a future of Artificial Intelligence and automation looking more inevitable by the day, the familiar tale of automation-induced angst in the workplace is back once more. But against this sobering backdrop, a radical optimistic flip side has also emerged. Let us look at how embracing AI and automation might not only help us protect our future of gainful employment, but enhance it to go far beyond the mundane jobs of the working world.

The Reality of AI Adaptation and Its BOOST to Industries

Over the next two years, 2024 is the year when experts believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be ready to make the leap from the experimental phase to full, mainstream deployment and it will supercharge corporate productivity. ‘Generative AI, the use of AI to create text for content creation and response generation, has the potential to supercharge companies’ ability to serve their workforces effectively,’ wrote David Brodeur-Johnson, a principal analyst at Forrester, an independent research and consulting firm. This isn’t just wishful thinking. A massive hike in AI spending to an average of $2.5 million per company over the next two years is an extraordinary vote of confidence in AI.

Embracing Change: Boosting Skills and Morale Amidst AI Integration

And while the threat of automation hangs over as many as 86 per cent of US employees, much of the conversation is how AI could become a force for good, increasing worker productivity and spurring new avenues of economic growth. Programmes to reskill employees for an AI-driven future, such as those at Rakuten’s company’s HQ, reveal the need to make workforces more plastic. By bringing innovations like ChatGPT into companies, firms are not just driving efficiency, they are reinventing jobs for a machine-entangled human future to come.

The Transformative Impact of AI on the Job Market

Despite the whiff of dread in the narrative, the story needs a segue to brighter news about how AI can boost the number of jobs, following the history of similar tales about technology. There is ample statistical evidence: developers using AI tools such as GitHub Copilot complete tasks 55 per cent faster, and boosting job satisfaction can be as simple as taking boring tasks off a worker’s plate.

Automation and Human Ingenuity: A Balanced Future

AI and automation might eliminate aspects of manual work, but they still need human judgment – for example, in complicated customer service engagements or strategic decision-making. Together, these forces will enable professionals to do more rewarding work, while also increasing productivity and job satisfaction.

Leadership Perspectives: AI as an Augmenter, Not a Replacer

Executives at PepsiCo and other companies in various industries echo this vision: AI is here to enhance humans, not replace them. In this future, machines will be empowering workers to do the tasks that only people can, such as those that are strategic, creative or human-sounding. Not only will this preserve jobs, but it will transform them into positions with higher innovation and productivity.

Case Studies: AI's BOOST in Action

From The Home Depot to the Barnardo’s UK charity, examples of AI-augmented design in the real world demonstrate the potential of AI to enhance productivity and help to liberate employees from the burden of undifferentiated work. These initiatives demonstrate how AI can be used not only to improve efficiency, but also to create working environments that are most conducive to creativity and human engagement, thereby supporting what employees tend most to value about their jobs.

The Essence of BOOST

At the centre of every use of boost is the argument that AI and automation will not lead to the obsolescence of the workforce, but rather to growth, innovation and enjoyment at work. The doc goes on to tell us that AI is not a threat, it will help us at work. In fact, the proliferation of AI in the workplace is seen as an opportunity. The exciting prospect here is that work can change to be better.