But while corporations are making significant investments in AI, most employees are yet to use it — “only 1 in 10” globally say their day-to-day role now includes AI skills.
Such skills include AI-specific programming languages, machine learning, and automation testing.
That is despite employees’ “excitement” on the prospect of using generative AI at work, Salesforce said.
“In reality, more employees were enthusiastic about using it in the workplace (58%) than anxious about it replacing them at work (42%),” added the cloud software company.
The power of generative AI to create text, images and other content in response to human input has revealed recent concerns about technology replacing jobs.
(*10*)
With its ability to supercharge human capabilities, AI ought to be used as a tool to empower the workforce, not hinder or replace them.
A recent report by Goldman Sachs showed that up to 300 million jobs worldwide might be affected by AI and automation, comparable to office and administrative jobs.
“With its ability to augment human capabilities, AI ought to be used as a tool to empower the workforce, not hinder or replace it,” said Sujith Abraham, senior vp and general manager, Salesforce ASEAN.
“[But] it shouldn’t be without risk. This aspect is embedded in our generative AI guidelines that help guide the responsible development and deployment of this disruptive technology that involves human participation.”
Skill leaders want
According to Salesforce, HR leaders say that “data security skills, ethical AI and automation skills, and programming skills” will turn into increasingly essential in the workplace.
Nevertheless, there may be a “gap” between the skills that corporations need in the long run and those who employees currently use.
This gap will still exist as corporations race to develop AI technology, Salesforce added.
While 4 out of 5 employees globally say they use digital skills in their day by day work, few say they have skills beyond “collaborative technology, digital government and digital project management,” the corporate said.
Only 14% say their role includes other related digital skills comparable to encryption and cybersecurity, and 13% say they use programming and application development skills.
AI skill penetration also varies across industries. It’s no wonder the tech industry is using essentially the most AI skills globally, Salesforce added.
“Nevertheless, even in this industry, lower than a 3rd of employees currently use AI skills as a part of their role,” added Salesforce.
In Asia, nevertheless, things are a bit different. In India, for instance, the travel and tourism industry, fairly than the tech industry, ranks highest in the usage of AI skills, with 67% now using AI skills in their jobs, Salesforce told CNBC Make It.
“Over the past 12 months, the usage of AI has turn into more prevalent in the industry, with AI-based systems and chatbots providing consumers with more comprehensive, real-time information,” said Abraham.
“Firms can drive the principles in their systems to generate more personalized options and convey consumers closer to decision making.”
When it comes to Singapore, the industry that ranked highest for the appliance of AI skills was industry production – despite only 21% saying they use AI skills as a part of their role.
“The manufacturing industry is a key a part of Singapore’s economy, accounting for around 21% of the country’s GDP in 2022.” Abraham said.
“Artificial intelligence has played a key role in improving the efficiency, quality of production and repair processes.”
He added that this includes the usage of real-time or predictive models to higher manage logistics and provide chain challenges.
Go to Skill-Based Hiring
In the sunshine of the shift in direction skills-based hiring, acquiring more skills can be “critical” to an AI-driven future, Salesforce said.
The study found that 82% of HR leaders said skills were the “most significant attribute” when evaluating candidates.
That is significantly higher than the 18% who said having the suitable degrees was most significant.
“With today’s rapid pace of innovation, skills-based hiring ensures that corporations can reap the benefits of recent technologies quickly,” said Abraham.
“Firms see the worth of a talented workforce in staying competitive and agile.”
The survey shows that 97% of employees worldwide consider that corporations should prioritize AI in their worker development strategy.
Firms should subsequently actively enable employees to acquire skills, said Abraham.
“Employees need to have hard and soft skills to reap the benefits of the AI solutions which can be already built into on a regular basis work systems and applications,” he added.
“This includes understanding the parameters of working with AI, the sorts of use cases where AI can deliver one of the best results, validating AI-generated answers, [and] detecting red flags in generated content.
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