Highlights
- As we see AI’s impact grow, a question at the top of everyone’s mind is, will this AI era be good or bad for work in future?
- TCS futurists set out to answer this question in a study, “Working Towards the Future,” with responses from prominent futurists, executives, and foresight professionals.
- 90% of the respondents were optimistic about the changes GenAI will bring to the way people work, with nearly half of them being “very optimistic”.
Choose how you lean
When it comes to the future, are you optimistic or pessimistic?
As a futurist, this is a question I both ask and answer often. In my role with TCS, I help our teams and clients anticipate and prepare for possible scenarios. This means looking at both positive and negative outcomes and equipping executives with tools to analyze the impact and build new capabilities.
When looking at situations that could be either positive or negative, it’s natural to lean in one direction. When approaching the question of being an optimist or pessimistic, I reframe the question as, are you a techno-optimist or a techno-pessimist?
A techno-optimist believes that technology can continually be improved and can improve the lives of people, making the world a better place. If you are a techno-optimist, you think technology has consistently improved our lives for the better and is likely to do so in the future. In considering societal problems, you feel that the solution lies in technological innovation.
On the other hand, a techno-pessimist is likely to believe that modern technology has created as many problems for humanity as it has solved. The pessimist believes that seeking more technology is likely to bring about new problems, unforeseen consequences, and dangers. Given that the pessimists see technology creating its own problems, their answer to human progress often lies in a reduction of technological dependence rather than an expansion of it.
The era of AI
Techno-pessimistic thinking has increased over the past year as Generative AI advancements have sparked a new wave of AI speculation.
As we see the growing capabilities of AI to create content and automate processes in a more human-like way, a question at the top of everyone’s mind is, will this AI era be good or bad for work in future?
The TCS futurists set out to answer this question in a study, “Working Towards the Future,” which analyzes survey responses from prominent futurists, executives, and foresight professionals around the world. Participants answered quantitative and qualitative questions to inform a vision for AI and the future of how we will work across industries and job functions in the coming years.
The survey
The study found that 90% of surveyed futurists are optimistic about the changes AI will bring and nearly half of them are “very optimistic”. When it comes to working in the future, techno-optimism wins out.
The full report highlights findings that range from how AI assistants will help employee health and wellness, how dangerous or physically demanding jobs will benefit from an AI “spider-sense,” why entry-level jobs will look completely different, and the industries that will see the first positive transformations in work, with marketing and communications, healthcare and education, banking and financial services, and IT and software development leading the way.
TCS' survey finds that work will evolve in three stages: assist, augment, transform.
Key findings
Here are some of the findings of the “Working Towards the Future Report”.
- 90% of the respondents were optimistic about the changes GenAI will bring to the way people work, with nearly half of them being “very optimistic”.
- 90% believe all entry-level jobs will look drastically different, and 10% believe entry-level jobs will be eliminated.
- A split on the issue of AI Coworker ownership—60% foresee company ownership while 40% proposed personal AI, or “Bring Your Own AI (BYOAI).”
- The overall consensus is that AI will significantly improve work experience with possible benefits such as shorter work weeks, fluid careers, and other possibilities.
- 75% of respondents believe that AI adoption will help small businesses expand into new markets and reach a broader customer base.
To download the full report, please click here.
