The emergence of powerful generative AI systems prompted a reconsideration of many previous findings and predictions. A recent study observed that AI will be able to automate, besides routine tasks, also non-routine tasks previously thought to be “safe”. Authors observed that lack of concrete evidence of the impact of AI on the labour force “could lower our sense of urgency to understand its impact on work, even when such effects appear likely in the future”.
Given the lack of empirical evidence and structured discussions on the impact of generative AI on the workplace and the labour force around the world, the project will seek to build a substantive body of evidence by complementing existing streams of theoretical and empirical research. The project will leverage our global network of contacts to launch a series of virtual and in-person roundtables and interviews, aimed at collecting evidence and ultimately discussing the emerging impact of generative AI on workers in different sectors of the economy, as well as in different parts of the world. More specifically, we will organise structured discussions focusing on three topics: (1) Working conditions, and specifically whether generative AI can trigger or jeopardise the creation of “good jobs”; (2) consequences of generative AI for future skills, for different types of job profiles and tasks; and (3) consequences for job design, i.e. how should future job profiles be designed to enable meaningful human-generative AI cooperation on the workplace.
Against this background, the project objectives include gathering evidence on current and upcoming impacts of generative AI on the organisation of work in different sectors; assessing the likely impact of generative AI on job quality in different sectors; and providing recommendations on how future jobs should be designed to enable human-AI complementarity and decent employment conditions.
This project is part of the CEPS activities under the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) which brings together OECD members and GPAI countries to advance an ambitious agenda for implementing human-centric, safe, secure and trustworthy AI. You can find more information on GPAI and the Future of Work working group here.
