CEOs Think AI will make Human Workers “Largely Irrelevant”

CEOs Think AI will make Humans “Largely Irrelevant”

It has been predicted that, within 30 years, half of the human population of Earth will be unemployed, their jobs taken by robots and other automated systems, and the majority of companies seem not only to welcome it but to actively encourage it, if a new study is to be believed. Organizational and people advisory firm Korn Ferry conducted in-depth interviews with 800 CEOs of “multi-million and multi-billion dollar global organizations” about how they view the future of human workers. The results suggest that the business world values technology and tangible assets over its human workforce.

Key findings from Korn Ferry’s interviews of CEOs include:

• Sixty-three percent say that in 5 years, technology will be the firm’s greatest source of competitive advantage;
• Sixty-seven percent say that technology will create greater value in the future than people will;
• Forty-four percent say the prevalence of robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will make people “largely irrelevant” in the future of work.

Korn Ferry believes that the business world is being short-sighted in its undervaluation of people as workers, blaming an inability to judge their value beyond a priori reasoning.

“Leaders may be facing what experts call a tangibility bias,” Jean-Marc Laouchez, Global Managing Director of Korn Ferry, says. “Facing uncertainty, they are putting priority in their thinking, planning and execution on the tangible — what they can see, touch and measure, such as technology instruments. Putting an exact value on people is much more difficult, even though people directly influence the value of technology, innovation and products.”

“While the critical role and pervasive nature of technology in tomorrow’s workforce is clear, no one is saying people are going away altogether,” Alan Guarino, Vice Chairman and CEO and Board Services at Korn Ferry, added. “Soft skills such as the ability to lead and manage culture, will become critical factors of success for companies in the future of work as they seek to maximize their value through their people.”