Dive Brief:
- Automation supported by intelligent software agents will be on the rise in the next five years, accounting for the elimination of a net 6% of U.S. jobs, according to Forrester blog identifying 15 emerging technologies that will spark changes across industries.
- By 2021, companies will look toward AI and cognitive technologies to solve many tasks, sparking an 11% loss of jobs. However, the technology will also spark 5% job growth in industries that stand to benefit.
- In particular, AI and cognitive technology will hit those working in transportation, logistics, customer service and consumer services, according to Forrester's Brian Hopkins, The Guardian reported.
Dive Insight:
Don't fear the robot uprising quite yet. AI and cognitive technologies right now are geared more toward automation rather than sentient thought. However, the widespread use of this technology is right around the corner. Already companies like AT&T are using bots to help liberate workers from mundane tasks.
As of August, about 125.89 million people were employed full-time in the U.S., according to Statista. If Forrester's projections are correct, by 2021, about 7.6 million people would be out of a job because of intelligent agents.
Other firms have also worked to project potential job loss form AI. Citigroup predicted earlier this year that European and U.S. lenders will slash 1.7 million jobs in the next decade due to the rise of intelligent agents.
But Jamie Broderick, head of UBS Wealth Management U.K., recently told CNBC he does not think that will happen. Instead, AI will actually enable workers to do more. "At the higher end artificial intelligence just ends up improving decision support, freeing up senior managers to do the things that are really value-added things that they are good at," said Broderick.
