- AI has well-documented productivity benefits, but automating entry-level roles is a bad idea
- No Gen Z workers means no on-the-job learning from early on, therefore no future talent
- Younger workers are also more likely to drive AI adoption in the first place
MIT researcher Andrew McAfee has warned companies could risk harming their future workforce if they replace newbies with AI today.
By filling some of the lowest pay grades with AI, Gen Z workers will not only be out of a job, but they won’t have the experience to progress to higher paying jobs, ultimately causing a major disruption across the talent pipeline.
McAfee praised junior roles for providing apprentice-style and on-the-job learning by performing routine tasks alongside more experienced staff, but automation would remove this entirely.
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Why it’s a bad idea to replace novices with artificial intelligence
In addition to causing disruptions in the talent supply down the road (and we’ve already seen the countless reports of today’s talent shortage), companies may also lose access to AI-savvy talent. Gen Z workers are among the most frequent AI users, making them integral to enterprise AI adoption. With fewer younger hires, companies would ultimately end up with fewer AI ‘power users’.
That all being said, McAfee fully acknowledged the short-term efficiencies that attract so many companies to automate many of their entry-level roles.
However, reducing Gen Z intake could slow their AI transformation efforts and leave them in an awkward position with insufficient AI and insufficient human labor.
Despite advice from the likes of MIT’s McAfee, entry-level job postings are down from last year and even more so compared to pre-pandemic levels, per Handshake data. Monster also notes that 89% of this year’s graduates fear their jobs are at risk of being taken by AI.
However, it is not a general trend – some companies, especially in the technology sector, have increased the hiring of graduates to build AI capability early.
Ultimately, McAfee’s comments show that the AI boom is not just about automating as many roles as possible, but rather about scaling properly with AI assistance.
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