For more than a third of employees, AI will “kill” their job

IBM, LV,Springing… As the announcements of hiring freezes or job cuts due to artificial intelligence (AI) begin to rain, employees are beginning to feel really threatened.

Worldwide, more than a third (36%) believe that their profession is likely to be eliminated by AI in the next ten years, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) among 12,900 employees, managers and leaders in 18 countries (including USA, France, Germany, UK, India etc.). In France, this proportion even rises to 42%.

However, despite this latent concern, feelings are more mixed. Respondents were asked about their perceptions: they say they are mostly curious (61%) and highlight the interest of ChatGPT, DALL-E etc. Optimism remains (52% say they are “optimistic” about the impact of these new technologies on employment, a figure up 17 points compared to 2018). At the same time, 30% feel worried globally (41% in France), but this figure has dropped by 10 points since a previous study in 2018.

“The use of AI has increased a lot in recent years. However, we clearly see in our study that the more people know about AI, the more they perceive the opportunities,” explains Nicolas de Bellefonds, global director of the AI ​​activity of BCG X (the firm’s tech entity).

Clear gap between top management and employees

And in fact, ChatGPT came into use very quickly (with almost 200 million accounts in the spring, according to Similarweb) . 46% of respondents say they have used generative AI tools at least once. 26% use it regularly and this figure even rises to 80% for the management team! “Adoption is very high, and is no doubt linked to the fact that our respondents work in large companies. But it also shows the speed at which these technologies have developed,” continues the expert.

Another striking lesson from the study is the very clear gap in perception between managers and their teams. 39% of employees say they are worried, compared to 22% of executives and 28% of managers. “I didn’t expect such a difference. The former see the risks for their profession, a loss of meaning, while the latter project themselves on the opportunity to go faster, improve productivity, etc. They often use AI tools and feel more comfortable,” underlines Nicolas de Bellefonds.

A need for training and regulation

Another major gap between “top management” and employees: 68% of the former believe that their company uses AI responsibly… while only 29% of employees believe that adequate measures have been taken in this direction. “The companies have made commitments, but the operational implementation remains complicated”, according to Nicolas de Bellefonds.

A consensus is emerging on a need for training to improve their skills (86%), whereas only 14% of employees have already been trained in this regard. An overwhelming majority (79%) also believe that specific regulations are necessary.