Want to Kill Grunt Work With AI? Careful What You Wish For
Automating “low-value” tasks shuts down a vital training ground for new recruits.
A glimpse into the future when more companies adopt AI?
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergCommon wisdom about generative AI is that it will displace lots of professional jobs. The more nuanced take: It’ll take lots of entry-level jobs.
I’ve asked several businesses over the last few months how they’re using newfangled generative AI models from the likes of Microsoft Corp., OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and a common theme is automating grunt work — the kind you’d give to a new recruit, like conducting market research or writing reports. That might make sense on the surface, but as with every technology revolution there will be a price, one that both businesses and graduates will have to pay as AI raises the bar to starting a career.