The latest wave of ai tools like ChatGPT seem certain to disrupt the workplace in the coming years, and the most disrupted professions may be those that require college degrees. This presents an unprecedented challenge for universities already struggling to prove their value.
TO study published last year used sophisticated analysis to try to determine which types of jobs are most at risk of major disruptions and reductions due to big language ai models. Topping the list are popular disciplines at universities across the country, a large number of them in the teaching profession. For example, eight of the 10 most exposed jobs are teachers in various fields. Topping the list are telemarketers and number 10 are sociologists.
The researchers looked at dozens of skills that people use in their jobs, such as writing and reasoning, and then looked at the potential for new ai tools to supplant or support humans in those tasks.
For this week's EdSurge podcast, we connected with one of the study's researchers, Robert Seamans, a professor of management and organizations at New York University's business school.
And he emphasized that while universities should pay attention, changes in these fields and their related workplaces will not happen overnight.
“It takes a long time before technology produces these dramatic changes,” he says. “Back in 2018 or so, Elon Musk said there would be fleets of driverless Teslas everywhere by 2020. But I'm looking out the window at the streets of New York City and I just saw a yellow taxi drive by that isn't a Tesla. “I have never seen a Tesla without a driver.”
Seamans, who saw his own work teaching business on the list of most disrupted professions, has some advice on what universities can do to prepare for what ChatGPT will do to the workplace.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts, or use the player on this page.
