Government remains coy on UK jobs lost to AI
The Labour government says it is monitoring the impact of AI on the UK’s job market, but has not specified what steps it plans to take to mitigate jobs lost to the technology.
Responding in a written parliamentary Q&A about how many jobs the country could lose to AI, Labour MP Feryal Clark said the government was monitoring the situation.
“Government is working to harness the benefits that AI can bring in terms of economic growth, rising living standards, and improved worker wellbeing, while mitigating the risks,” she said.
“Government is planning for a range of plausible outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help us track and prepare for these. We will continue to work closely with other government departments through the AI Opportunities Action Plan to ensure we shape AI to deliver economic prosperity for the UK.”
The issue of copyright
However, in a separate question, Clark indicated that the government was moving to ensure that AI did not impact copyright laws in the country.
“The government has stated that copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an existing exception to copyright applies,” she said.
She added that the government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on potential legislative changes to copyright law in this area. This consultation closed on 25th February.
“The government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The government will continue to engage extensively on this issue, and its proposals will be set out in due course,” she said.
Data shows jobs are being impacted
Data published by McKinsey this week shows the advent of AI and LLMs is dampening UK hiring intentions.
“Since enterprise-wide productivity gains have yet to materialise, this cannot be in response to large-scale output improvements,” the group said.
“But a mix of observed task-level time savings, and the anticipation of significant – albeit uncertain – future productivity gains, especially as the technology and its applications mature, is prompting companies to review their workforce strategies and pause aspects of their recruitment.”
This effect is particularly pronounced in roles where AI has the most potential to reshape human work, either by automating or augmenting it, McKinsey said.
“Since the three months ending in May 2022, the overall volume of online job ads has declined by 31%. However, while the reduction for occupations with low AI exposure was 21%, job ads dropped by 38% for roles with high exposure to AI and LLMs.
“Some of the biggest declines were in jobs that have been predicted to have the highest impacts from generative AI. These include software developers and other IT workers, as well as professionals in data, design, media, research, legal, HR, finance, and business.”
