The secret to AI job security? Stop stressing and pivot at work now – here’s how
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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Failed projects and job-loss fears have lowered employee confidence in AI.
- Professionals should embrace AI and find clear personal benefits.
- Be realistic, accept cultural change, and focus on long-term impact.
Evidence suggests workers have lost confidence in AI, with many proof-of-concept tests not moving to production. Even when AI projects deliver results, talk of potential job losses means it's easy to understand why workers are anxious about emerging technology.
However, it's not all bad news. When deployed effectively, gen AI systems can boost your productivity, allowing you to spend more time on tasks that add value. Agentic AI services can even act as your trusted companion when completing work tasks.
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Here are five ways to temper your anxieties and start feeling more comfortable about the implementation of AI.
1. Focus on connectivity
Barry Panayi, CIO at insurance specialist Howden, said professionals must recognize that successful applications of AI are all about human connectivity. Employees who discover personal benefits will feel more comfortable adopting emerging tech in their work processes.
"What is going to differentiate you in this new world is that the air hostess on the plane is more valuable than the pilot, which, in our business, is the skills that our brokers have with clients," he said.
Panayi told ZDNET that machines can process numbers quickly and effectively, but it's humans who make decisions and create benefits for work colleagues, partners, and customers.
"I don't think you replace that human connection," he said. "Yes, I do think if you've got people spending four weeks doing a proposal in PowerPoint, they should probably be taking much less time than that, and AI will help them."
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Panayi encouraged professionals to start thinking about how using technology can boost them personally, rather than focusing on technology as a shock of the new.
"We're having a Teams meeting today, and 10 years ago, it would have seemed incredible to run a meeting like this, not just because the technology didn't exist, but culturally, it would have been weird," he said.
"The coronavirus pandemic shocked everyone into realizing that you can be productive by blending face-to-face and online meetings, and there are advantages. And I think AI, because it's moving so quickly, is also going to give people more choices about how they work."
2. Don't over-complicate things
Erik Mayer, transformation chief clinical information officer at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said AI can be game-changing, but only if professionals identify the technology that will help them reach their goals.
"AI is a very ubiquitous term, isn't it? There's natural language processing, machine learning, gen AI, and agents," he said.
"You've got to find the right data science tools or methodologies to support the problem you're trying to address. You don't need to over-complicate things. Sometimes success is about very simple rule-based approaches."
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Mayer gave ZDNET an example from his own work environment. AI in all forms means surgeons, clinicians, nurses, and physios will start to work differently.
Getting excited rather than feeling anxious about AI means accepting cultural change and recognizing that you can spend more time on your valuable duties.
"As a healthcare worker, I'm no longer going to be doing audits where I'm looking at case notes and filling out an Excel spreadsheet. I'll be talking to an electronic patient record, and it will automatically complete the process," he said.
"AI-enabled voice technology will listen in on a consultation and produce the clinical letter for professionals at the end. As a healthcare employee, I'm not having to sit there in the evening, after I see my patients, dictating all the clinical letters."
3. Establish an abundance mindset
Helen Poitevin, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, said the biggest mistake is to think of AI as digital labor or a digital employee. Instead, she encouraged anxious professionals to engage with the technology.
"Think about AI as an opportunity to grow and to learn, but also as a way for the enterprise to survive in tough environments," she said.
"Don't promote scarcity mindsets, where people focus only on what will be left for them, but promote abundance mindsets, where people focus on what they can solve by using AI. Promoting an abundance mindset can be about encouraging and recognizing the people who are solving problems, rather than recognizing and celebrating those who shaved off 30 minutes from their work."
Poitevin told ZDNET that Gartner discovered that employee fears about AI can be dispelled by being clear about the technology's strengths and ensuring automation and human skills are used in combination.
"Another factor is recognizing the limitations of today's AI capabilities, so not overselling them, or just being realistic about the technology," she said.
4. Concentrate on the day job
Richard Corbridge, CIO at property specialist Segro, said his organization's explorations into AI show it can produce big benefits. However, professionals should recognize that the shift from one system to another might not be as big as they fear.
Corbridge told ZDNET that the company's test-and-learn projects have demonstrated the potential to create marketing content. Other AI-enabled services have shown that staff can use natural language to search and find the assets they require.
"It's a bit of everything," he said. "I think, as an organization, we're calling it all AI, just to make it a bit easier and cooler. However, the reality is that some of this change is robotic process automation with a bit of AI added in."
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The simple message, suggested Corbridge, is that work continues, whatever technology you're using, and the underlying systems might not be as revolutionary as your bosses suggest.
"The enthusiasm to discuss AI because of its ability to boost a company's reputation can mean some business leaders want to stress change to appear forward-thinking," he said.
"There can be a tendency to over-emphasize the impact of AI to create a groundswell of positivity, and it's not always necessary."
5. Think about long-term change
Rupal Karia, SVP for North America, UKI, and MEA at technology firm Celonis, said that professionals who adapt to the cultural change process will feel more comfortable about the use of AI in the workplace.
"We are creating a new way of working through AI and automation," he said. "Because of this change, I don't need you to know all the answers anymore. I need you to use the technology to get the answers."
Karia told ZDNET that this shift will create morale issues in the short term, especially as people lose jobs. However, professionals should start to hone their collaboration and management skills as the nature of work transforms.
"Roles are going to change, and there's going to be disruption, but the impact of AI is similar to any information revolution," he said.
"I think AI will create more jobs in different areas, and therefore, over a period, we'll be okay. There will be different jobs. Someone's still going to have to ensure we've got things programmed correctly."
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Therefore, Karia advised professionals to focus on long-term change and the potential for improvements to workplace experiences.
"Hopefully, we create more interesting and higher-skilled jobs, which means we produce a new wave of work," he said. "And success here's going back to dealing with cultural change."
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