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Gen Z's Take on AI: Ethics, Security, and Career

Generation Z is leading innovation and transformation in the fast-changing technological landscape. Gen Z is positioned to have an unparalleled impact on how work will be done in the future thanks to their distinct viewpoints on issues like artificial intelligence (AI), data security, and career disruption. 

Gen Z is acutely aware of the ethical implications of AI. According to a recent survey, a significant majority expressed concerns about the ethical use of AI in the workplace. They believe that transparency and accountability are paramount in ensuring that AI systems are used responsibly. This generation calls for a balance between innovation and safeguarding individual rights.

AI in Career Disruption: Navigating Change

For Gen Z, the rapid integration of AI in various industries raises questions about job stability and long-term career prospects. While some view AI as a threat to job security, others see it as an opportunity for upskilling and specialization. Many are embracing a growth mindset, recognizing that adaptability and continuous learning are key to thriving in the age of AI.

Gen Z and the AI Startup Ecosystem

A noteworthy trend is the surge of Gen Z entrepreneurs venturing into the AI startup space. Their fresh perspectives and digital-native upbringing give them a unique edge in understanding the needs of the tech-savvy consumer. These startups drive innovation, push boundaries, and redefine industries, from healthcare to e-commerce.

Economic Environment and Gen Z's Resilience

Amidst economic challenges, Gen Z has demonstrated remarkable resilience. A recent study by Bank of America highlights that 73% of Gen Z individuals feel that the current economic climate has made it more challenging for them. However, this generation is not deterred; they are leveraging technology and entrepreneurial spirit to forge their own paths.

The McKinsey report underscores that Gen Z's relationship with technology is utilitarian and deeply integrated into their daily lives. They are accustomed to personalized experiences and expect the same from their work environments. This necessitates a shift in how companies approach talent acquisition, development, and retention.

Gen Z is a generation that is ready for transformation, as seen by their interest in AI, data security, and job disruption. Their viewpoints provide insightful information about how businesses and industries might change to meet the changing needs of the digital age. Gen Z will likely have a lasting impact on technology and AI as it continues to carve its path in the workplace.


With More Jobs Turning Automated, Protecting Jobs Turn Challenging


With the rapid trend of artificial intelligence being incorporated in almost all the jobs, protecting jobs in Britain now seems like a challenge, as analyzed by the new head of the state-authorized AI taskforce.

According to Ian Hogarth, a tech entrepreneur and AI investor, it was “inevitable” that more jobs would turn increasing automated.

He further urged businesses and individuals the need to reconsider how they work. "There will be winners or losers on a global basis in terms of where the jobs are as a result of AI," he said.

There have already been numerous reports of jobs that are losing their status of being ‘manual’, as companies are now increasing adopting AI tools rather than recruiting individuals. One recent instance was when BT stated “it will shed around 10,000 staff by the end of the decade as a result of the tech.”

However, some experts believe that these advancements in the job sector will also result in the emergence of new job options that do exist currently, similar to the time when the internet was newly introduced.

Validating this point is a report released by Goldman Sachs earlier this year, which noted 60% of the jobs we aware of today did not exist in 1940.

What are the Benefits?

According to Hogarth, the aim of the newly assigned taskforce was to help government "to better understand the risks associated with these frontier AI systems" and to hold the companies accountable.

Apparently, he was concerned about the possibility of AI posing harm, such as wrongful detention if applied to law enforcement or the creation of dangerous software that encourages cybercrime.

He said that, “expert warnings of AI's potential to become an existential threat should not be dismissed, even though this divides opinion in the community itself.”

However, he did not dismiss the benefits that comes with these technologies. One of them being the advancements in the healthcare sector. AI tools are not all set to identify new antibiotics, helping patients with brain damage regain movements and aiding medical professional by identifying early symptoms of diseases.

According to Mr. Hogarth, he developed a tool that could spot breast cancer symptoms in a scan.

To monitor AI safety research, the group he will head has been handed an initial £100 million. Although he declined to reveal how he planned to use the funds, he did declare that he would know he had succeeded in the job if "the average person in the UK starts to feel a benefit from AI."

What are the Challenges 

UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set AI as a key priority, wanting to make UK to become a global hub for the sector.

Following this revelation, OpenAI, the company behind the very famous chatbot ChatGPT is all set to build its first international office in London. Also, data firm Palantir has also confirmed that they will open their headquarters in London.

But for the UK to establish itself as a major force in this profitable and constantly growing sector of technology, there are a number of obstacles it will have to tackle.

One instance comes from an AI start-up run by Emma McClenaghan and her partner Matt in Northern Ireland. They have created an AI tool named ‘Wally,’ which generates websites. The developers aspire to turn Wally into a more general digital assistance.

While the company – Gensys Engine – has received several awards and recognition, it still struggle getting the specialized processors, or GPUs (graphics processing units). They need to continue developing the product further.

In regards to this, Emma says, "I think there is a lack of hardware access for start-ups, and a lack of expertise and lack of funding.”

She said they waited five months for a grant to buy a single GPU - at a time when in the US Elon Musk was reported to have purchased 10,000.

"That's the difference between us and them because it's going to take us, you know, four to seven days to train a model and if he's [able to] do it in minutes, then you know, we're never going to catch up," she added.

In an email chat, McClenaghan noted that she thinks the best outcome for her company would be if it gets acquired by some US tech giant, something commonly heard from a UK startup.

This marks another challenge for the UK: to refocus on keeping prosperous companies in the UK and fostering their expansion.

AI Poses Greater Job Threat Than Automation, Experts Warn

 

Until a few months ago, the whole concern about machines taking over human employment revolved around automation and robots/humanoids. The introduction of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence (AGI) models has triggered a real and more serious threat. 

What started as a conversational tool through prompts is expected to replace human labor in specific industries, beginning with IT/software/tech and media/creative companies, as well as new-age platforms serving the digital economy. However, it is still early days for AI based on large language models (LLMs) to take away employment across the spectrum, although particular hints have emerged.
 
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg in an interview this week: "I could easily see 30 percent of jobs getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period."

With about 26,000 employees, AI might replace nearly 7,800 jobs in the future years. This change, however, will not be rapid, and IBM will initially halt hiring for roles that it believes could be replaced by AI, notably those in back-office or non-customer-facing roles, according to its CEO.

According to Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce India and a former SBI Chairperson, generative artificial intelligence is a blessing in disguise since it can eliminate much of the grunge or repetitive work in India, freeing up people to do more creative work.

"What generative AI actually will help us do is actually curate things so that they can be made relevant to us. If you ask them the questions in the right manner is where AI can actually help," Bhattacharya told IANS recently.

As per Goldman Sachs, AI might replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, and Generative AI, which can create content undetectable from human effort, is a "major advancement." Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder of global technology company Zoho, stated that AI posed a severe threat to various programming occupations.

Referring to conversational AI platforms such as ChatGPT and others, Vembu stated that for the past 4-5 years, he has been saying internally that "ChatGPT, GPT4, and other AI being created today will first affect the jobs of many programmers." The only thing Carl Benedikt Frey, future-of-work director at Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, is certain of is that "there is no way of knowing how many jobs will be replaced by generative AI".
 
"What ChatGPT does, for example, is allow more people with average writing skills to produce essays and articles. Journalists will therefore face more competition, which would drive down wages, unless we see a very significant increase in the demand for such work," Frey told BBC News.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, have explored the possible effects of large language models (LLMs) like Generative Pretrained Transformers (GPTs) on the US labour market.

According to the data, over 80% of the workforce may see at least 10% of their job duties affected by the introduction of LLMs, while approximately 19% of workers may see at least 50% of their tasks impacted.

"We do not make predictions about the development or adoption timeline of such LLMs. The projected effects span all wage levels, with higher-income jobs potentially facing greater exposure to LLM capabilities and LLM-powered software," the researchers noted.

Significantly, these effects are not limited to industries that have experienced higher recent productivity gains.

"Our analysis suggests that, with access to an LLM, about 15 per cent of all worker tasks could be completed significantly faster at the same level of quality. When incorporating software and tooling built on top of LLMs, this share increases to between 47 and 56 per cent of all tasks," they warned.

According to the report, jobs in agriculture, mining, and manufacturing are the least exposed to generative AI, but jobs in information processing industries, such as IT, are the most exposed to AI models. In accordance to the World Economic Forum, AI will bring three changes to the finance sector: employment reduction, job creation, and increased efficiency.

Banks have already begun to integrate AI into their business structures. Morgan Stanley has begun to structure its wealth management database using OpenAI-powered chatbots. According to Kristian Hammond, head scientist of Natural Sciences, "90% of news will be written by machines" in 15 years.

Some tech companies have begun to hire "prompt managers" to assist with specific office chores via AI chatbots. AI appears to be quickly becoming a monster that will knock on our doors at any time, and experts believe it is critical for the future workforce to develop AI capabilities.