The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan suppose tank that tracks public opinion, released a report today on how staff really feel about AI. 

The know-how has turn out to be an more and more widespread office fixture over the previous few years. And its function is prone to develop as AI turns into extra succesful, because of advances such because the large language models, like GPT-4, that gave us ChatGPT and a rising variety of different instruments.

While there’s no scarcity of reviews about folks’s attitudes towards AI, Pew’s information is sizable and comparatively contemporary, drawing from 11,004 US adults who have been consulted between December 12 and 18 of final yr—simply as ChatGPT mania was taking maintain after its launch on the finish of November.

The report suggests that almost all staff count on AI to rework hiring, firing, and evaluations. Many folks report feeling unsure about what these modifications would possibly appear like, and anxious about AI’s potential impacts. 

Some 68 % of these polled stated they count on AI to have a serious affect on jobholders over the subsequent 20 years. Curiously although, solely 28 % stated they thought AI would have an effect on them personally, whereas 38 % have been not sure what the end result could be for their very own work.

Those responses replicate the truth that no person actually is aware of how AI will change jobs and work within the coming years. The know-how is evolving rapidly, and its affect typically differs significantly between industries and even roles. 

We can, nonetheless, count on present makes use of of the know-how to develop and turn out to be extra refined. Some employers already use AI to assist display job candidates, while enterprising job hunters seek to outwit the algorithms with intelligent tips. In principle, AI know-how has the potential to make hiring fairer and increase workplace diversity. But in observe it has generally carried out the other, main the US authorities to warn employers concerning the potential for algorithms to discriminate towards folks with disabilities.

The Pew survey displays this contradictory image, with 47 % of individuals saying they suppose AI would do a greater job than a human in hiring however 41 % opposing the usage of AI in hiring.

Workplace surveillance is an space of common concern with 81 % of these polled saying that extra use of AI will result in staff feeling inappropriately watched.