Will generative AI kill jobs? | The TechTank Podcast

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems have garnered considerable interest in recent months. With the release of ChatGPT and other generative AI programs such as DALL·E 2, millions of people are interacting with these tools to answer basic and complex questions, develop videos, write code, and perform many other tasks. Using large language models, generative AI has considerable potential to transform many sectors and bring advanced technologies to a variety of tasks. To date, a sense of urgency to utilize these advanced tools is seen by many key companies. Google’s Bard, Microsoft’s Copilot, and even the recently leaked Meta language model LLaMA have shown the public its future for industry products and services. While the public sector applications are beginning to percolate, one can only imagine the many ways they will impact the public.  

Will generative AI kill jobs and if so, what sectors will be affected? Will it be possible for organizations to use these new tools to automate job tasks and reduce dependence on human labor? Human resource professionals were early first adopters of the technology, using it to recruit, evaluate, and communicate to applicants. Now, AI has the potential to be utilized in other areas, such as law and medicine, education, retail, and finance. If effective in the streamlining of tasks and more mundane functions, will this technology inevitably kill jobs? 

On this episode of the TechTank podcast, co-host Darrell West is joined by John Villasenor, a nonresident fellow in Governance Studies and a professor of engineering, law, public policy, and management at UCLA.

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