AI Weekly Digest: AI 'could disrupt university graduates’ careers by replacing jobs'

Generative artificial intelligence is likely to “disrupt” career pathways for university graduates by replacing many entry-level roles, a report suggests.

Students should be given more opportunities to participate in co-curricular and extracurricular activities – such as work placements, years abroad, clubs and societies – to limit the negative impacts of AI, according to a report by think tank Demos and the University of London.

The impact of generative AI on graduates’ working lives will be “profound” as jobs “may be retooled as much as destroyed”, the report says.

But it adds that AI’s potential removal of the “bottom rung of the career ladder” could free up graduates to focus on “soft skills” desired by employers.

It calls on universities to consider ways of maximising co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for all students so young people from all backgrounds are equipped for a workforce transformed by AI.

The report adds that universities should work with Government to enable more short courses and flexible degrees for students.

Andrew O’Brien, director of policy and impact at Demos, said: “There is a lot of doom-mongering about AI and technology at the moment, but we cannot put the genie back in the bottle.

“Demos’ research has shown that providing high quality extra-curricular activities, in partnership with civil society, can provide people with the skills they need so that they can thrive, not fear the future.

“Government must take notice of these trends and ensure that we put in place the long-term funding, smart regulation and wider support so that universities can do what they do best. Giving students the knowledge, skills and experience they need to be the best they can be.”

Report author Richard Brown, visiting fellow of the School of Advanced Study, University of London, said: “We know that technology is disrupting the future of work, and that AI promises more turbulence to come, but the good news is that there are practical, tangible steps that universities can take to equip their students with what they need to succeed – the human skills and judgement that will complement technology.”

A Universities UK spokeswoman said: “The potential risks and benefits of AI are still being debated, and no-one can deny that AI will change the ways that we work. However, this change need not be negative.

“UUK’s latest report on Jobs of the Future highlights the views of senior figures and talent acquisition specialists at the UK’s FTSE350 listed companies, and revealed that 61% of them express a growing need for individuals with keen creative thinking skills in order to fully harness the potential of new AI tools.

“However future workplaces are changed by AI, it is clear that graduates, and universities, will play a vital role in utilising and shaping its impact.”

It comes after tech billionaire Elon Musk said at last week’s AI Safety Summit that the technology could bring a future where paid work is redundant and the only reason people will work will be for their own satisfaction.

He described AI as a “a magic genie” that grants you limitless wishes that you want and will usher in an “age of abundance”.

“One of the future challenges will be how do we find meaning in life if you have a magic genie that can do everything you want?” he said.

Professor Emma Parry from the Cranfield School of Management said Mr Musk’s suggestion that artificial intelligence could eventually take on all jobs was “sensationalist” and “not helpful”.

Prof Parry said the Tesla and SpaceX boss’s suggestion was “sensationalist” and “not helpful”, and that an “evidence-based approach that tells people what they can expect now” was required rather than comments around something that “won’t happen in the near future”.

Prof Parry, who is an expert on the changing world of work, said that while Mr Musk’s prediction was unrealistic in the short term, there was no doubt AI would change the workplace.

“It is unlikely that we will see this in the near future but given AI is allowing us to automate an increasing number of tasks, from routine transactions to data analysis, there is potential for workplaces to be automated completely,” she told PA.

“AI will continue to have an impact on the way we work but it will not take away our jobs anytime soon.

“As long as organisations prioritise upskilling employees so that we can work alongside AI, we could even see higher levels of higher quality and enjoyable tasks resulting in improved job satisfaction that would, in turn, benefit workplace productivity.

“However, there is also a risk of ending up with lower quality jobs if we lose some of our ability to contribute.”

Prof Parry said new skills training would be vital to ensuring AI does not have an unbalanced impact on workers.

“Artificial intelligence could be used to improve efficiency and effectiveness across a range of different tasks,” she said.

“While it is not a magic pill that will fix everything, equally, it is not necessarily an imminent danger.

“AI has the potential to replace routine cognitive and transactional tasks and therefore automate workplaces, meaning that any staff reductions will primarily impact the middle layer of the organisation, such as roles in administration, customer service, analytics and financial services.

“If we are to avoid large scale job loss then we need to put systems in place to upskill, reskill and redeploy workers so that we can retain them in the workplace and maintain industry’s competitive advantage.”

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