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Is GenAI an economic boom or doom? 😬

GenAI and the U.S. labor market, OpenAI's AI image detector, AlphaFold 3 release, ChatGPT vs consultants and more!

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Everyday AI
May 08, 2024

Outsmart The Future

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Jordan

Today in Everyday AI
8 minute read

🎙 Daily Podcast Episode: What impact will GenAI have on the US labor market? Should we prepare for an economic boom or doom? We sat down with an expert to find out. Give it a listen.

🕵️‍♂️ Fresh Finds: Google releases AlphaFold 3 model for bio and drug discovery, Meta AI for advertising now creates images, Amazon launches a developer GenAI tool and Samsung acquires a medical startup. Read on for Fresh Finds.

🗞 Byte Sized Daily AI News: OpenAI developing an AI image detector, Microsoft's $3.3B AI center in Wisconsin and Microsoft and LinkedIn's report on AI and work. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.

🚀 AI In 5: Can ChatGPT strategize better than top-tier firms like KPMG and Deloitte? We put it to the test. See it here

🧠 Learn & Leveraging AI: Wondering what the future holds for GenAI and the U.S. labor market? Here’s what you need to know to be prepared. Keep reading for that!

↩️ Don’t miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about 7 common mistakes people make with LLMs, some suggestions of ChatGPT 4.5 and Katy Perry's mom fooled by AI. Check it here!

The Impact of Generative AI on the U.S. Labor Market 👥

Generative AI is changing almost every single facet of our society as we know it.

That brings us to today’s question. What impact will GenAI have on the US labor market?

Will GenAI be an economic boom? Or cause economic doom?

Or maybe something in between?

Gad Levanon, Chief Economist at The Burning Glass Institute, joins us to discuss Generative AI's impact on the U.S. labor market.

Join the conversation and ask Jordan and Gad questions on GenAI and the U.S. labor market here.

Also on the pod today:

• Generative AI and higher education 🧑‍🎓️
• Generative AI skills demand 🧠
• Future for workers and generative AI 💭

It’ll be worth your 32 minutes:

Listen on our site:

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Subscribe and listen on your favorite podcast platform

Listen on:

Upcoming Everyday AI Livestreams

Thursday, May 9 at 7:30 am CST ⬇️

Friday, May 10 at 7:30 am CST ⬇️

Here’s our favorite AI finds from across the web:

New AI Tool Spotlight – VoiceCheap translates videos into any language, DataLab gives you insights on your data and Ringly.io is an AI phone agent.

AI and medicine — Google released AlphaFold 3, a new AI model that can more accurately predict the structure of DNA and proteins.

Trending in AI – Meta’s AI advertising tools can now create full images.

Big Tech - Amazon is launching Bedrock Studio, a tool that lets developers experiment with GenAI models.

Money in AI – Samsung Medison, Samsung’s medical unit, is acquiring Sonio for $92.7 million.

Read This – Here’s how AI is fueling data centers in Asia.

1. OpenAI Unveils Advanced Tools to Detect AI-Generated Images 🕵

OpenAI has announced its working on a tool aimed at distinguishing artworks created by their DALL-E AI image generator. The image detection classifier is designed to identify DALL-E's handiwork with an impressive 98% accuracy, even when faced with alterations like cropping, compression, or changes in saturation. However, this tool struggles a bit when it comes to spotting content from other AI models, such as Midjourney, managing to flag only 5 to 10% of their creations.

2. Microsoft's $3.3 Billion AI Center in Wisconsin 💵

Microsoft is making a big move in Wisconsin, investing $3.3 billion to build an AI hub that will train thousands of employees and manufacturers. With plans to create over 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs, the center aims to make a significant impact on the local job market. President Biden will be on-site to showcase the administration's commitment to job growth.

3. Microsoft and LinkedIn's Report on AI and Work 💼

Microsoft and LinkedIn collaborated on a comprehensive report, surveying 31,000 individuals across 31 countries to unveil the impact of AI on the labor market. The data revealed a significant shift in employees' attitude towards AI, with 75% embracing AI tools to boost productivity and creativity. As professionals gear up for the new AI economy, leaders are facing challenges in quantifying productivity gains and filling open roles with AI talent.

4. U.S. Slows AI Export to China Amidst Growing Concerns 🖐

The Biden administration is tightening the reins on exporting advanced AI models to China, fearing potential misuse in cyber warfare and bioweapon development. With plans to regulate the export of closed-source AI models, the US aims to curb Beijing's technological advancements, posing significant challenges in the fast-evolving tech landscape. The move comes in the wake of escalating worries about adversaries exploiting powerful AI models for malicious purposes, prompting a reevaluation of export control measures.

5. Microsoft's Copilot AI Prompt Engineering in Microsoft 365 🗣

Microsoft is improving Copilot for Microsoft 365 by introducing an auto-complete feature that enhances AI prompts. This update will offer users suggestions to improve their prompts, making everyone a prompt engineer. Additionally, a new "elaborate your prompt" feature is in the works to rewrite prompts for better clarity and detail, empowering users with richer content creation capabilities. Subscribers will soon be able to create, publish, and manage tailored prompts in Copilot Lab.

AI vs Consultants: Who Wins in Strategy?

Can large language models like ChatGPT outmaneuver seasoned strategists from top-tier firms such as KPMG or McKinsey?

We put this question to the test, showing how even basic prompting can yield surprisingly strategic insights.

🦾How You Can Leverage:

Where will all the jobs go once AI takes them? 

And are white collar jobs actually more at risk to be replaced by AI than blue collar jobs? 

And how the heck is the future workforce supposed to be prepared for AI jobs when so many universities are still blanket banning…. AI? 

Head scratchers, right? 

To our rescue: Gad Levanon, the Chief Economist at The Burning Glass Institute. 

See, we can conjecture and muse about the impact of Generative AI on the labor market until the cows come home. 

But, that’s literally Gad’s role. 

Today’s show was insightful, forward-thinking and a balance of realism and optimism. 

Cuz here’s the reality shorties — AI’s gonna take a lot of jobs. 

But, AI also means increased productivity. 

New sectors. 

New industries. 

What’s it mean? 

Enough rhetorical questions. 

Let’s just get the answers from today’s interview. 

1 – Your job might not matter 🤷️

Tough horse pill to swallow, right? 

There’s a sense of pride and belonging in one’s career. 

  • It can take decades of work. 

  • Blood, sweat and tears to sharpen the skill. 

  • Waging corporate ladder battles to achieve a certain role. 

  • And AI could legit wipe out the need for that job tomorrow. 

Gad cut it straight — Generative AI makes knowledge workers MUCH more productive. 

And massively increased productivity leads to two things: more company revenue and worker overcapacity. 

Try this:

The way you think about your work or your role should change now. Generally, tech innovations can take years or decades to impact certain job types. But with GenAI’s unprecedented productivity gains, expect a muuuuuuuch tighter displacement turnaround.

This MIT Sloan article from October 2023 describes a study showing generative AI can boost highly skilled workers' productivity by up to 40% when used within its capabilities. 

Think — the exacts of this study aren’t detailed. But, we assume that most were using now-outdated LLM versions with not a ton of training. Wild, right? 

2 – In the long-run, jobs will even out ⚖️

So if many jobs are replaced, will unemployment in the U.S. run rampant? 

Are we all gonna be looking at Sam Altman for some of that UBI action? 

Gad doesn’t see it that way. 

There will likely be millions of new jobs and new industries. Not only will AI create new fields, but the upcoming exodus of retiring Baby Boomers could help even the field.

Gad highlighted some trends and areas for people to look at and focus on — working in and around large language models and computer science are two areas ripe for growth. 

Try this:

Gad put together some research on the types of roles, skills and even areas of the U.S. that may be most impacted by AI. 

Our take?

  • We appreciate Gad’s optimism. If ethical AI implementation wins out, the scenario that Gad laid out comes true. 

  • Companies make more money. They’ll cut jobs that are redundant, but eventually create a similar number of roles (presumably based around AI) that don’t yet exist. 

  • If you’re an avid Everyday AI listener/reader, you know we fear that U.S. company’s greed might eventually win out when it comes to AI and job displacement. 

But, that’s why Gad’s the expert and not us, right? 

3 – Seek short-term skills 🤹

This whole AI jobs displacement/replacement scenario sounds kinda like a rickety roller coaster. 

Will we all be safe afterwards? Probably. 

Is it gonna be fun? Maybe not. 

Because here’s the reality — the world has never seen a force like Generative AI. Gad said Generative AI’s impact on the labor force will be much different than previous innovations like the Internet, automation or the cloud. 

Those impacts were slow yet steady, often only impacting a few sectors. 

Generative AI on the other hand, will likely impact us all. From blue collar line workers to white collar workers with high wages and decades of experience, GenAI won’t likely discriminate.  

Gad laid out advice for both individuals and companies. 

Try this: 

Gad’s advice was simple for individuals — you’ve gotta focus on short-term skill building. Some areas to invest in: working with LLMs, consulting on AI implementation, tech infrastructure skills, compute power and network operations, cybersecurity, etc. 

And because Generative AI happens so fast, it’s best to focus on short-term certifications and credentials. 

For companies — Gad said businesses need to find a way to retain their best employees. That might mean slowing down hiring for new roles and letting employees attrition to naturally reduce the workforce. 

That way, mass layoffs can be avoided after that whole AI vs. human redundancy. 

Then, companies can invest time and resources into upskilling valuable employees around GenAI. 

⌚

Numbers to watch

79%

Microsoft and LinkedIn’s AI at Work report, shows that 79% of leaders believe AI adoption is crucial for maintaining competitiveness.

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