Artificial intelligence is innovating many industries, but there is a growing concern among young professionals that AI may be coming for their jobs. Bentley University Lecturer Jeff LeBlanc says that his students occasionally joke about AI taking their jobs.
“Well, we aren’t going to get a job anyway because of AI, so who cares?” LeBlanc recounted that a student said during one of LeBlanc’s strategy classes that touched on automation in a Fortune commentary.
LeBlanc then shared some of the conversations he had with students on AI, with some describing it as “hopeless.”
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AI won’t take away every single job. There are some tasks and responsibilities that you can’t delegate to AI, but some jobs are in greater danger than others. Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs told Observe Now Media which jobs are on the chopping block.
“”The automation wave is not coming—it’s already here,” Briggs said. “And those performing the most easily automated tasks—often the most junior employees—are naturally the most vulnerable.”
That’s a big problem for Gen Z, since it’s common to enter the workforce in a junior position before climbing the corporate ladder. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms this fear. A startling 9.2% of Americans who are 18 to 24 years old were unemployed in August. That’s a big difference compared to the 3.4% unemployment rate for Americans who are at least 25 years old.
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The AI boom can complicate the job market and present fewer opportunities for men and women, but the bureau found that men are getting the rough end of the stick.
The unemployment rate for men who are 20 to 24 years old stood at 9.9% last month. The figure was only 8.5% for women. The same story plays out for older individuals. Men who are 25 years or older have a 3.5% unemployment rate, compared to a 3.3% unemployment rate for women of the same age.
Artificial intelligence may increase these disparities.
The numbers only shift in men’s favor when they get married. Married men with present spouses had a 2.4% unemployment rate in August, while married women with present spouses had a 2.5% unemployment rate. The gap in the unemployment rate between married men and women has narrowed since the start of the year.
