According to a recent survey, a large number of working people are generally enthusiastic, but also apprehensive, about the arrival of artificial intelligence in their working lives.
This global research was conducted by LinkedIn among more than 29,000 professionals in 20 countries, including France, the United States, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. It reveals that working people are generally enthusiastic about the prospects offered by AI in the professional sphere.
Indeed, 58% believe that this technology will significantly change the way they work over the coming year. The overwhelming majority of workers surveyed (84%) are convinced that AI will help them progress in their careers, while 45% believe it will make their jobs easier.
In fact, many believe AI will lead to more free time, which some see as a way to improve work-life balance. Some 45% of respondents believe it will transform their working day, enabling them to devote more time to social commitments and leisure activities.
Others intend to use this free time to bolster their professional networks (30%) or gain new skills (39%). Generally speaking, workers believe AI could have a positive impact on their jobs, helping them to accomplish long-term projects and goals.
But that doesn’t stop professionals from having fears and reservations about this technology. Nearly half of working people are afraid they don’t know enough about AI (49%), and 39% feel overwhelmed by the scale of change it could bring to their jobs in the future.
This is why some professionals feel the need to feign mastery of the subject. Some 39% of those surveyed admit they pretend to know more about AI in front of their coworkers to appear “in the know”.
Do you suffer from ‘FOBO’?
Meanwhile, a Gallup poll has also revealed that with AI tools increasingly being used in workplaces, the fear of seeing one’s job and skills become totally obsolete is growing. This has sparked the coining of the new acronym “FOBO”, for “fear of being obsolete”.
In the US, more than one in five people now fear that their work will be pointless due to new technology.
This survey, conducted in August among 1,014 American adults in all 50 states, shows 22% of American workers fear that technology will one day make their jobs obsolete, a figure that has risen by 7% since 2021.
Employees with a college degree are now almost as concerned about this threat as all other workers. Some 20% are afraid that their work will soon be obsolete (up 12% in one year).
This fear is also greatest among people aged 18-34 (28%) who are even more aware of the possibilities offered by AI.
On an optimistic note, only a quarter of those surveyed consider this to be an imminent threat.