Study finds workers with a bachelor's degree are more likely to be exposed to AI

The likelihood of encountering AI

Encountering AI within a professional setting depends on the type of work you do.

Overall, 60% of employees in Canada have jobs that might leave them highly exposed to AI-related transformation — almost half of which could benefit from it to perform more efficiently in the future.

Breaking those figures down even further, 31% of employees aged 18 to 64 in Canada are in jobs that may be highly exposed to AI and may be relatively less complementary with its use in the workplace. This is in contrast to the 29% who are in jobs that may be highly exposed to and highly complementary with the technology's implementation.

Employees in professions that involve more cognitive-based tasks may be more exposed to AI.

These findings remain relatively unchanged from May 2016 and are consistent with similar studies in the U.S.

“This does not necessarily mean that these jobs will be in less demand in the future because of AI, as many of them are critical to the economy,” the report notes. “Instead, AI could play a transformational role, leading to the creation of new tasks within these jobs, or to new jobs entirely.”

However, a key difference found in the report reveals how highly educated workers are also more likely to benefit from the application of AI than their less-educated counterparts.

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Professions and demographics

Vocations such as doctors, nurses, teachers and electrical engineers can likely benefit from implementing AI technologies. On the other hand, Canadians employed in business, finance and information and communications technologies — which may also require higher education — are more likely to view AI as a negative disrupter in the workplace.

Aside from highly educated people, those living in urban areas, women and higher earners are more likely to be employed in jobs that could be highly exposed to AI-related job transformation than other demographics. Although, they are also more likely to work in jobs that could be highly complementary with AI.

Proceed with caution

The authors of this study urge employers to be vigilant when aseessing any of the findings contained within, since they are solely based on the current state of AI. This only includes generative AI or AI that responds passively to requests — It doesn't factor in AI that can be integrated with robotics, for example.

It also doesn’t account for economic dynamics such as the long-term adaptability of workers, businesses and governments.

If AI’s capabilities were to increase in the long run, the applicability of this study would naturally decrease.

“Even if AI were to have no net impact on jobs, it may still have implications for other facets of the economy, such as labour productivity and income inequality,” the authors surmised.