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Govt. monitoring the impact of AI on local workforce –Jagdeo
Kaieteur News- The Government of Guyana is monitoring the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the local workforce.
Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo said last Thursday during his weekly press conference that the Government will work along with the growing hospitality industry to ensure that the workforce is equipped to take on the new influx of visitors and ex pats entering the country. On the cusp of these developments, Jagdeo noted the government has taken note of the impact that AI has been having on the workforce globally. He said while the impact of AI is not as evident in Guyana, the Government is monitoring the issue.
Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo
“…What is happening globally is that, there is a reorganization of the businesses and a lot of AI is being used now to perform the functions that people use to perform like as individuals you know like answering phones and stuff like that they’re using Bots and all of these to perform those tasks,” Jagdeo said. The Vice President emphasised that this is one of the negatives of AI. “…It will displace large numbers of people from labor intensive industries. They’d employ less people in these areas, so we have to constantly look at those people the ones who may lose jobs. I spoke with Ashni Singh and the others and already we see if we need to retrain people and to find other opportunities for them. So, we will have to work with people to observe them who might lose jobs so we’re looking in these areas we have a greater possibility here because we have to constantly look at those people the ones who may lose jobs.”
According to the VP, there are lots of different areas such as the construction industry needs a lot of skilled people. “If you talk to [Minister of Labour Joseph] Hamilton the training that we’re doing now it’s unbelievable…It’s a large number of people are getting their skill and the certification necessary to work in the construction sector and I urge people to utilize these opportunities more so we now waiting on a perfect job,” Jagdeo added.
Recent studies have shown the rapid advance of artificial intelligence has captivated the world, causing both excitement and alarm, and raising important questions about its potential impact on the global economy. In a recent analysis, a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) examined the potential impact of AI on the global labour market.
According to a report released by the IMF earlier this year, many studies have predicted the likelihood that jobs will be replaced by AI. “The findings are striking: almost 40 percent of global employment is exposed to AI. Historically, automation and information technology have tended to affect routine tasks, but one of the things that sets AI apart is its ability to impact high-skilled jobs. As a result, advanced economies face greater risks from AI—but also more opportunities to leverage its benefits—compared with emerging market and developing economies.
In advanced economies, about 60 percent of jobs may be impacted by AI,” the IMF report suggested.
Further it pointed out that roughly half the exposed jobs may benefit from AI integration, enhancing productivity.
“For the other half,” the report noted that “AI applications may execute key tasks currently performed by humans, who could lower labor demand, leading to lower wages and reduced hiring. In the most extreme cases, some of these jobs may disappear.”
“In emerging markets and low-income countries, by contrast, AI exposure is expected to be 40 percent and 26 percent, respectively. These findings suggest emerging market and developing economies face fewer immediate disruptions from AI. At the same time, many of these countries don’t have the infrastructure or skilled workforces to harness the benefits of AI, raising the risk that over time the technology could worsen inequality among nations,” the report pointed out.
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