Afraid AI will steal your job? You’re not alone

At the same time, many organizations are still asking whether the rapidly evolving technology will profoundly change jobs and skills development at a fundamental level. “Automation has long impacted human activities, most notably during the industrial era when machines rapidly replaced the manual work of humans,” IDC said.

The impact of AI and genAI varies by profession and industry, with creative and engagement-based skill sets and work being affected first. Marketers, customer support teams, web designers, professional services groups, healthcare roles, and many other positions are already seeing changes in their work practices from AI.

The same IDC data shows that 29% of business and IT leaders expect AI and genAI to enable faster decision timing for back-office centers of leadership like HR, operations, and finance. As compared to two years ago, businesses are changing their narratives around AI enablement to see what it can do for the business and its workforce rather than worrying about what uncontrollable challenges it could pose.