Artificial intelligence (AI) will likely cause early disruptions in finance, banking, and human resources jobs requiring higher education, a report has found.
Future Skills Organisation (FSO) report (pdf), in collaboration with Mandala Partners, aimed to explore the potential impact of AI on Australia’s training systems, given the recent increase in AI use in the public domain.
The advancements in AI are expected to affect jobs that lean more heavily on cognitive skills rather than physical tasks, such as marketing, communications, accounting, business, and project management.
This means university qualifications must change, and higher-level qualifications in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system will likely face disruption.
Patrick Kidd, FSO’s CEO, warns that Australia should prepare for AI to alter specific jobs significantly.
“AI has the potential to establish new ways of conducting business, with tasks being automated, augmented or adapted, and ultimately shifting how we create, consume and engage with content,” he said.
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While acknowledging the potential for increased productivity, Mr. Kidd stresses the importance of planning for a seamless transition to harness workplace potential in a changing environment.
“Ultimately, our core mission is to close the skills gap facing Australia’s finance, technology and business sectors,” he said.
“We want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to support all Australians with the skills to succeed for work, learning and life, and we must factor AI into our mission.”
Further, a Tech Council report (pdf) noted that healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and professional, and financial services are the four main sectors expected to benefit from AI.
Microsoft Australia Chief Technology Officer Lee Hickin endorsed the report, stating AI has already become a transformative technology in 2023, rapidly gaining adoption across various sectors in Australia.
Still, Australia has an adoption rate for AI below the global average, while being comparable to rates in the United States and South Korea.
Much Needed Productivity Boost
The report also said that AI could add up to $115 billion $(US75 billion) annually to the country’s economy by 2030 through enhancing industries and developing new products and services.Between $30 billion and $80 billion would come from increased workforce productivity due to automating routine tasks.
Tech Council CEO Kate Pounder said the economy needs this productivity boost during elevated inflation and sluggish productivity growth.
Australia’s productivity rate, which measures what is produced per hour worked, dropped by 3.5 percent in the 12 months leading up to March this year.
“Declines in productivity growth result in a rise in unit labour costs, which is inflationary and negative for living standards in the long run,” explained AMP bank deputy chief economist Diana Mousina.
“Emerging technologies like generative AI are going to be a big part of the [productivity boost] solution,” Ms. Pounder added.
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However, she emphasised that seizing the opportunity would need collaboration between the government and industry, like enhancing workforce skills, providing clear regulations, and promoting responsible AI practices.
She said that both sectors need to utilise a large and skilled tech workforce, make substantial investments in digital infrastructure, and have a high level of cloud computing adoption.
“Australia must ensure swift and responsible adoption of generative AI to fully capture the depth and breadth of this opportunity,” Ms. Pounder added
