Nearly 40% of Texas businesses surveyed by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank last month were already using artificial intelligence, said the bank.
An additional 16% plan to use it within the next 12 months.
While the survey focused on around 400 Texas firms, Alex Tanzi of Bloomberg told KCBS Radio’s Nikki Modero this week that it is likely indicative of nationwide results. He explained that the survey also indicates that around 25% of the firms plan to lay off jobs because of AI.
“Firms like to hire people with AI skills to replace them,” Tanzi said. “So, it’s not really a great picture, if… if you are one of those people.”
AI technology has taken off in recent years with programs that create written content, art, drive cars and more. It has also come with concerns. For example, Audacy recently reported on an incident that involved an AI generated racist rant a staffer used to smear the reputation of a Maryland school principal.
In Texas, Tanzi said the expected AI worker replacement is set to target workers across skill levels, particularly mid-skilled positions.
“People with some college or… you know, people with associate’s degrees,” he explained. “There’s about 40% of the layoffs seem to be occurring there. Another 30% with the lower… educated workers and the rest with high educated workers. So, no one is really immune to this.”
According to the Dallas Fed, among firms using AI, half are using generative AI, a type of AI that autonomously generates new content. Marketing, business analysis and process automation are key fields where it is being implemented.
“At firms where AI has impacted employment, it is more likely to change the type of worker needed than the number of workers,” said Emily Kerr, senior business economist at the Dallas Fed. “Firms said the top benefits of using AI were increased productivity and access to better or more timely information. Misinformation and privacy issues were top concerns.”
This week, the Financial Times reported that “Apple has poached dozens of artificial intelligence experts from Google and has created a secretive European laboratory in Zurich,” to develop new AI products. An analysis conducted by the outlet indicates a hiring spree to expand its AI and machine learning team.
Survey results released Monday by Deloitte showed that now, “AI-savvy organizations are moving past the infatuation stage with Generative AI, looking at how to best overcome technical and organizational barriers to create value at scale.”
Furthermore, the survey of nearly 2,000 director to C-suite level respondents around the globe found that nearly three-quarters of organizations are looking to change their talent strategies in the next two years because of Generative AI. In particular, businesses are looking to alter work processes, upskill and reskill.
On the other hand, CBS News reported Wednesday that a “group of major newspaper publishers, including the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News, are accusing two of the biggest artificial intelligence companies of stealing their content to improve their products,” citing a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in New York. This suit targets two of the biggest generative AI platforms in the world: Open AI (known for its ChatGPT program) and Microsoft’s Copilot AI program.
Modero asked Tanzi what actions are being taken to transition from human workers to AI.
“Nationally, I haven’t seen anything really been done yet,” he said. “At the state level, some states are implementing some worker training for older people, for adults. But it’s going to be a real issue.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday a plan for promoting responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in automated and algorithmic systems by state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in the administration of public benefits.
“Recent advances in the availability of powerful artificial intelligence (AI) in automated or algorithmic systems open up significant opportunities to enhance public benefits program administration to better meet the needs of recipients and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of those programs,” said the department.
Tanzi noted that the rise of AI is far from the first time technology has displaced labor.
“I mean, there’s always new technology being developed that kind of, makes people learn new things,” he told Modero. “And, you know, some people, unfortunately, get laid off in the process. But that’s… you know, in a way, that’s a good thing with the US labor market, there’s a lot of churn and there’s a lot of, opportunities. And there’s also, you know, stuff like new technology pushing out people happens. So it’s just part of the way the world works.”