White House Says 10% of US Workers Are in Jobs That Could Be Affected by the Rise of AI — Will It Lead to Job Losses?

By Trisha Andrada

Mar 21, 2024 09:01 AM EDT

A White House study estimated that around 10% of American workers are in jobs that face the threat of disruption from the fast-evolving artificial intelligence (AI).

White House Analysis on the Impact of AI on the US Workforce

According to the analysis by the White House on AI's impact on the US workforce shared with CNN, workers with lower incomes and less education are more likely to be exposed to AI, which increases the risk that the technology could augment inequality.

The analysis is a part of the Council of Economic Advisers' yearly Economic Report of the President, which includes a full chapter on AI and how lawmakers should respond.

Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, likened this issue to a health situation, telling CNN: "Who is most likely to catch the virus and what can we do to vaccinate them?"

The study clearly shows that the White House is giving serious attention to AI and the best approach to steer its development to help workers in the long run.

In the past, governments have failed to give attention to some of the social media and technology developments as they evolved. However, Bernstein noted that they "won't let that happen with AI."

Risk of AI to Employment?

Bernstein said that unions in both the industrial and the service sectors are in talks with the White House over AI readiness. Experts agree that AI, like any new technology, will make some people's jobs easier and more efficient. However, other jobs could be eliminated.

One of the many disclaimers in the White House study is the possibility that AI's long-term effects on employees may shift as the technology develops and new uses for it become evident.

Some things that used to be reserved for humans are now within the capabilities of generative AI. These include creating creative narratives, realistic visuals, and even music lyrics.

Economists from the White House examined the effects on employees by listing 16 common occupations with high exposure to AI. After that, they set out to identify the occupations that heavily use AI in day-to-day work and discovered that about 20% of workers are in these high-AI exposure jobs.

The researchers also found that 10% of workers have high AI exposure and low performance requirements. That means these workers "perform the tasks that are most likely to change as a result of AI," CNN reported.

As the implications for workers may be complex, experts emphasized that this does not necessarily imply that 10% of the workforce would lose their jobs.

"Most jobs remain a collection of tasks of which only a portion can be automated... AI may allow humans to focus on other tasks, fundamentally changing their jobs without reducing the use of their labor," the report said.

Bernstein added, as CNN reported: "The wrong place to start a discussion of AI is to assume without question it will massively displace workers. That's not the history of technology in the workplace."

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