10 AI changes about to hit your workplace

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is positioned to trigger a technological revolution. From automating mundane tasks to supercharging scientific research, AI is changing the way we approach our work.

Although the most obvious change is the potential replacement of jobs by automation, there’s many other changes already morphing our offices. Here are the main ones to keep in your radar so they don’t take you by surprise.

1. Your documents are about to get a lot smarter

If you’ve ever stared at a cursor blinking relentlessly on a blank Google Docs, you’ll appreciate the help of AI. Whether it’s Google Workspace or Microsoft, the two tech giants are integrating generative AI into their platforms to ease workflows. For instance, Google Workspace Labs is using Duet AI to help create key documents.

Think of it like a native ChatGPT – directly from Google Docs. You can prompt the technology to write up things like job descriptions or sales emails. Although you’ll still need to double-check the output, it will automate mundane writing tasks or give you a source of inspiration to dive straight into your next assignment. Importantly, it will help speed up your writing process, letting you focus on other, potentially more important tasks.

2. Your management may be panicking

Although panicking might be relative – some industries will definitely feel more anxious than others – there’s definitely something in the boardroom air that is forcing executives to question what new direction AI will lead their companies. Whether it’s redefining organisational culture, investing in new technologies or strategising on how to be more productive, every senior leadership team will be having (or already has had) a conversation about what place AI plays in the office.

Perhaps most crucially, companies will need to think about how to bridge the digital skills gap to find the talent to take on the new tech. Whether that’s upskilling existing employees or searching for trained-up new ones, executives are already thinking about how to future-proof their workforce.

3. Your staff may be worried too

And who can blame them if they’ve read about IBM freezing hiring for jobs AI could do or seen the Goldman Sachs report that predicts AI could replace a staggering 300 million jobs. From paralegals to copywriters, there’s a huge amount of jobs out there that could genuinely be at risk of an AI takeover.

However, to go back to point 2, that nervousness could be eased by deciding to upskill or, at least, finding a happy medium where artificial and human employees can coexist. For example, we might see copywriters using ChatGPT to source best practice on how to structure product reviews but still use their own personal judgement and research to give users an authentic experience. Although every industry will approach AI differently, we might see upskilling and process changes emerge as supporting trends, rather than widespread job replacements.

4. Learning and development needs to keep up

According to research by Salesforce, only one in ten global workers have in-demand artificial intelligence skills. This points to a pretty wide gap between the skills the market needs and the skills workers are equipped with. For example, in the first seven months of 2022, there were over two million digital skills related vacancies posted out of a total of 8.5 million vacancies. Understanding how AI can create a whole raft of new jobs and how to fill them requires HR teams to future-proof their employees now with upskilling and training.

5. Customer service could be revolutionised

Although chatbots in customer service are not a new thing, the novelty is that they’re getting smarter. They don’t just offer automated answers anymore, they actually offer useful information. AI chatbots are programmed to respond to customer queries and requests and can simulate a human conversation by using natural language processing. As a result, the lines between human and artificial customer service representatives will become more blurred.

AI can easily provide communications in multiple languages, gather customer demographic information, personalise interactions, and anticipate trends. This can save businesses money and time, as well as boosting customer retention. At the same time, real life customer service employees can be focused on interactions that are more complex, technical or emotional ie those that require a human touch.

6. Trend analysis will get hypersonically faster

Whether it’s creating a sales forecast of how your company will perform in the next quarter or understanding where your social media accounts are headed, AI’s use of massive amounts of data and quick ability to process it will definitely change the trend analysis game for businesses.

This is already being rolled out in the fashion industry to translate real-world images shared on social media into meaningful insights. The quick turnaround and access to vast pockets of insight means AI will give entrepreneurs more data-backed knowledge of trends in their industry, making it easier to invest in the right projects.

7. Your creative process will also speed up

Even the best creators face dry spells. But AI can get the creative juices flowing. For instance, AI website builders can help you piece together initial templates or drafts of your new website. Although you’ll still have to go back and edit to fit your creative brief, AI website builders can help trigger initial ideas. .

Alternatively, you can also use tools like Midjourney to give you options of how your next social media campaign could look. Although AI will unlikely be a full replacement for creative processes, it will help cut short the stagnant phase of not knowing where to start.

8. Hiring will be more successful

Artificial intelligence is also redefining the recruitment process. AI makes use of data to help recruiters make better decisions and find the candidates that are best suited for vacancies. The technology can assist in sourcing and screening candidates, as well as analysing resumes and job applications. It can even predict candidate success and cultural fit, which tend to be left to guesswork with traditional methods.

One of our Startups 100 Index alumni, Gigged.ai, is already demonstrating how AI is changing the hiring game. The company’s AI-driven marketplace means it’s able to match companies with the most suitable candidates in just ten seconds, automating time-consuming tasks managers have to struggle through. Because the algorithm knows exactly what your company needs, the guesswork and gut feeling of the hiring process is eliminated.

9. Project management software will get smarter

While many organisations still favour traditional methods like spreadsheets to plan campaigns, managers are gradually becoming more progressive and integrating AI into project management – from generating automated project reports, and resource optimisation, to project scheduling.

AI can elevate your project management in a number of ways. Firstly, it improves productivity and reduces human error, meaning you’re making better use of your resources. It also offers real-time monitoring of projects, giving you more data-backed confidence when making key decisions. In fact, it’s estimated that by 2030, 80% of the work currently done by project team members will be capable of being replaced by smart computers.

10. New jobs will emerge

Every time there’s been a technological watershed, new jobs always end up popping up and AI is not immune from that phenomenon. Almost mind-blowingly, companies are now paying up to roughly £270,000 per year for prompt engineers. As AI becomes more integrated into the workspace, managers will be looking to make room for people specialised in the technology.

As a result, you’ll also start seeing more courses and university degrees that are specialised in training graduates to become well-versed in AI-speak to match job descriptions that expressly ask for advanced technological skills. Therefore, don’t be surprised if your LinkedIn starts to show job titles that weren’t a thing five years ago.

Conclusion – Will AI make the workplace unrecognisable?

AI is the latest wave of the technological revolution, and in its wake, it’s overhauling the way in which the (hybrid) office works. Whether it’s investing in upskilling your current workforce or integrating AI into your business to perform repetitive tasks, artificial intelligence will definitely change the workplace as you know it.

However, it’s important to note that the AI revolution doesn’t mean not everything will translate into replacements or redundancy. As things currently stand, AI will streamline workflows, optimise resources and coexist with human employees to boost productivity and creativity to unprecedented levels.