How to Mitigate the Expected Big AI Job Disruption in South Africa – Anne Rutledge Resourgenix

The World Economic Forum predicts that 23% of global jobs will change in the next five years due to industry transformation through artificial intelligence (AI), text, image, and voice processing technologies. In its Future of Jobs 2023 report, the WEF says that the integration of large language models (LLMs) and AI will present a paradigm shift. While this could lead to significant productivity gains, there is the risk of job displacement and it could exacerbate socioeconomic disparities, which is of particular concern in South Africa. While there is generally a skills shortage in South Africa, AI is undoubtedly going to have a profound impact on the workforce. So, how should we mitigate the risk of AI? In an interview with Biznews, Anne Rutledge, the Executive Director of Talent Solutions at Resourgenix, said that South African companies are not fully ready for the AI revolution. Rutledge said that companies should take baby steps in the adoption of AI and should not automate everything at once. They should also be mindful of security risks in using AI tools. Rutledge warned against using tools like ChatGPT for CV writing and said that it should only be used as a guideline.. Rutledge also has advice on how the unemployed can gain AI skills and lists the functions that are in danger of being taken over by AI, and the jobs and skills that will remain in demand. In South Africa, she says, there is a scarcity of top talent and that AI will never replace the human touch.