Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

ChatGPT could threaten 300 million jobs around the world

Alex Blake
By

The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT has fueled a wide range of fears, from an increase in undetectable propaganda to the spread of racist and discriminatory speech. Experts have also raised the alarm over possible job losses, and a new report lays out precisely how disastrous AI tools could be for employment.

According to Goldman Sachs, up to 300 million full-time jobs could be lost around the world as a result of the automation that ChatGPT and other AI tools could usher in. That’s as much as 18% of the global workforce.

A person on the Google home page while using a MacBook Pro laptop on a desk.
Firmbee.com / Unsplash

The impact will be felt more keenly in advanced economies than in developing nations. That’s partly because much of the risk will be faced by white-collar workers compared to manual laborers. The professions most at risk include lawyers and administrative workers, while physically demanding work such as construction will fare better.

Related

The situation appears worrying in the United States and Europe, where the report estimates roughly two-thirds of all work will face some form of automation, while up to a quarter of all jobs could be handled entirely by AI.

Recommended Videos

A risk or an opportunity?

The ChatGPT name next to an OpenAI logo on a black and white background.

It isn’t all bleak. The report notes that since many jobs will be only partly impacted by AI, this work could be complemented by automation rather than being wholly replaced by it. Over the long term, the disruption caused by AI might help create new jobs and increase productivity in ways that other new technologies, like the electric motor and the personal computer, have done in the past.

That said, the report comes as over 1,000 scientists and business leaders signed an open letter calling on all development of AI models more advanced than GPT-4 to be paused for at least six months. This would allow the world to put safeguards in place to ensure AI tools are used “for the clear benefit of all.” Otherwise, the authors contended, artificial intelligence will “pose profound risks to society and humanity.”

What seems certain is that artificial intelligence could put huge numbers of jobs at risk. The question is whether that disruption will ultimately be a boost for workers — replacing tedious and repetitive work and opening up new job opportunities — or a threat that leaves everyone worse off. As the recent open letter warned, the frontiers of AI are largely unknown, with no guide to navigating their many potential perils.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Alex Blake
Alex Blake
Computing Writer
In ancient times, people like Alex would have been shunned for their nerdy ways and strange opinions on cheese. Today, he…
Google’s ChatGPT rival just launched in search. Here’s how to try it
Generative AI in Google Search.

Ever since Microsoft started integrating ChatGPT into Bing search, alarm bells have been ringing at Google. Now, though, the tech giant has started rolling out its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool for users as part of its bid to retain its search crown.

In a blog post, the company explains that the new feature (called Search Generative Experience, or SGE) is part of Google’s Search Labs, which lets you test out experimental ideas in Google search and provide feedback to the company. Google says its generative AI will “help you take some of the work out of searching, so you can understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights and get things done more easily.”

Read more
This new Photoshop tool could bring AI magic to your images
A mountainous landscape at night with the Northern Lights in the sky, a lake in the foreground, and a person standing under a rock archway on the right. This image was made with Adobe Photoshop's Generative Fill tool.

These days, it seems like everyone and their dog is working artificial intelligence (AI) into their tech products, from ChatGPT in your web browser to click-and-drag image editing. The latest example is Adobe Photoshop, but this isn’t just another cookie-cutter quick fix -- no, it could have a profound effect on imagery and image creators.

Photoshop’s newest feature is called Generative Fill, and it lets you use text prompts to automatically adjust areas of an image you are working on. This might let you add new features, adjust existing elements, or remove unwanted sections of the picture by typing your request into the app.

Read more
Nvidia GPUs see massive price hike and huge demand from AI
Nvidia RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super review

It feels like we’ve only just emerged from the debilitating graphics card shortage of the last few years, but a new report suggests we can’t breathe easy just yet. Could a new GPU shortage be on the horizon, or are consumers safe from a return to another nightmare scenario?

According to DigiTimes (via Wccftech), Nvidia is seeing a huge surge in demand for its chips due to the explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT. Nvidia offers a range of graphics cards that excel at AI tasks, including the A100 and H100, and the company is reportedly struggling to keep up in the wake of such massive demand.

Read more