the fears and hopes of employees in the face of the arrival of artificial intelligence

More than one in three employees in the world, 36% exactly, fear that their job will be eliminated by artificial intelligence in the next ten years, according to a study carried out by the Boston consulting group in 18 countries, including France, with 13,000 people, employees, managers and executives, mainly in large companies. In France, we are even a little more pessimistic, with 42% of respondents who believe that AI will eventually be able to take their jobs away from them. France ranks second among the most pessimistic countries on this point.

As a result, employees are urgently asking to be trained to deal with the changes already underway – several large companies have already frozen their hiring or announced job cuts in connection with the arrival of artificial intelligence – there is a demand mass training: 86% of respondents want training to improve their skills, while only 14% have already received such support.

The benefits outweigh the risks

There is a clear difference in perception between those who already use artificial intelligence and those who do not and this difference is important between leaders and employees. The first are 80% to declare using generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, at least once a week, when employees are only 20% to do so. Surprising effect: those who are familiar with generative AI are more likely to look for work. 29% of them say they are currently looking for a new job, explains Vinciane Beauchène, of the Boston consulting group.

They say the benefits far outweigh the risks. Despite fears over employment, 71% of respondents say the benefits outweigh the risks. Among these benefits, explains Vinciane Beauchène, the saving of time and productivity, the reduction in the number of errors and greater reliability and an enormous potential for innovation.