In brief: Artificial intelligence and related technologies are already having a major impact on the workforce. According to a new report out of the UK, a full 70 percent of employees believe AI is having a positive impact on the workplace. Of course, not everyone is buying into the AI hype.
A survey of more than 4,000 UK workers found that 38 percent believe AI is directly responsible for increased efficiency in the workplace, while one in three said it enhances productivity. Most workers – 84 percent – believe the positive effects of AI and related technologies will persist, and that seems to be backed up by support from employers.
The study, commissioned by WSP in partnership with Savanta, found that nearly three out of four (72 percent) employees feel their employers are providing the necessary resources to help them get the most out of AI. In sectors like communications (78 percent) and manufacturing (80 percent), support is even stronger.
While handy in certain situations, the use – or overuse – of AI in other scenarios can easily cause more problems than it solves.
Coca Cola, for example, recently came under fire for collaborating with AI studios to create its 2024 holiday ad spot. Critics say the resulting spot feels soul-less, and that the beverage maker attempted to cut corners by using AI instead of animators or real-life actors in an effort to save time and money.
AI is reshaping other forms of media as well, but it's still too early to know what sort of impact it could have on the creative process.
One example is Fugatto, a budding AI sound model that Nvidia claims could transform audio production. Among its many features, Fugatto can create a tune based solely on text, change the emotion in a singer's voice or modify their accent, and even add or remove instruments from an existing song. It can also create sounds that have never been heard before. While that sounds incredibly impressive in theory, it also has the potential to put an entire subset of working professionals out of business in the blink of an eye.