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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS
AI’s impact on the workforce of the
future is no different from previous
industrial revolutions
PwC examined in a new report the impacts of three In the third Autonomy wave, which could come to
overlapping waves of automation - the algorithm, maturity by the mid-2030s, AI will increasingly be
augmentation and autonomy wave. able to analyze data from multiple sources, make
decisions and take physical actions with little or no
The research analyzed the tasks and skills involved in human input. Fully autonomous driverless vehicles
the jobs of over 200,000 workers across 29 countries in could roll out at scale across the economy in this
order to assess the potential impact of automation on phase, for example.
workers in different industry sectors and of different
genders, ages and education levels. The estimated proportion of existing jobs with high
potential automation rates by the mid-2030s varies
On average across the 29 countries covered, the share significantly by country, ranging from only around 20-
of jobs at potential high risk of automation is estimated to 25% in some East Asian and Nordic economies with
be only around 3% by the early 2020s, but this rises to relatively high average education levels, to over 40% in
almost 20% by the late 2020s, and around 30% by the Eastern European economies where industrial
mid-2030s. production, which tends to be easier to automate, still
accounts for a relatively high share of total
The study suggests that more women could initially be employment. Countries like the UK and the US, with
impacted by the rise of automation, whereas men are services-dominated economies but also relatively long
more likely to feel the effects in the third wave by the mid ‘tails’ of lower skilled workers, tend to have
-2030s (see table below). This is due to the types of intermediate potential automation rates.
tasks that are more susceptible to automation and the
current gender profiles of employment by sector. “AI will have dramatic implications on the workforce of
the future, this is no different to previous industrial
The Algorithm wave is already well underway and revolutions. As we look to the future, skills training will
involves automating structured data analysis and shift from hard skills such as more technical know-how
simple digital tasks, such as credit scoring. This wave to softer skills such as relational and problem-solving
of innovation could come to maturity by the early skills”, Mark Jansen, Data and Analytics Leader, PwC
2020s. Singapore said.
The Augmentation wave is also already underway The estimated share of existing jobs with potential high
but likely to come to full maturity later in the rates of automation by the mid-2030s varies widely
2020s.The augmentation wave is focused on across industry sectors, from a median across
automation of repeatable tasks and exchanging countries of 52% for transportation and storage to just
information, as well as further developments of aerial 8% for the education sector.◊
drones, robots in warehouses and semi-autonomous
vehicles.
8 February 2018 - Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in Marketing