AI, jobs, and companies
The emergence of artificial intelligence, AI, is set to replace 85 million jobs globally by 2025, according to data from Asteri, a technology startup dedicated to managing the ever-evolving skill sets within enterprise workforces. At the same, however, its rapid advancement is expected to create 97 million jobs by 2025. Other data from the company show 14 percent of workers globally have already experienced job displacement due to AI; a 50 percent hiring gap is projected for AI-related positions in 2024; and 57 percent of C-suite executives want their companies to provide necessary AI training, but only 6 percent of companies have trained more than a quarter of their employees on AI tools. This ever-evolving landscape calls for an innovative approach to workforce management that not only addresses current challenges but also positions companies to thrive in the AI-driven future, Asteri says. The company’s CEO, Julia Grace Samovlenko, says the main risk comes from thinking AI will answer all questions. Companies need to understand that just adding these tools alone will not be a recipe for success.”
The perils of AI in large-scale projects
Over-reliance on AI could lead to a loss of critical thinking skills and a detachment from the human elements that are essential for project success, a leading expert in business management consulting and project management consulting contends. Te Wu, Ph.D., CEO of PMO Advisory LLC, a management consulting firm that specializes in Strategic Business Execution, argues that when AI moves from decision support to decision-making, it raises questions about accountability and ethics. Machines lack the emotional intelligence and moral judgment required for many critical decisions, he says, and AI systems, no matter how advanced, may not be able to adequately respond to high levels of uncertainty, unexpected changes, and the need for creativity. Projects where key stakeholders have conflicting interests, or where unforeseen political factors emerge, also present a problem, he notes, adding that while AI can process data and suggest the most efficient course of action, it cannot adequately gauge the full scope of social, political, or ethical ramifications of its recommendations. Since AI is based mainly on existing knowledge, at best, it fails to provide value-added analysis, he says. At worst, AI hallucinates extensively.
Jobs and a bachelor’s degree
Intelligent.com recently surveyed 750 business leaders as a growing number of companies eliminate bachelor’s degree requirements for certain positions. The online survey, conducted for Intelligent.com on Pollfish in June 2024, found 33 percent of companies had eliminated bachelor’s degree requirements so far this year; 25 percent of companies will eliminate or continue to eliminate bachelor’s degree requirements by 2025; the top reasons for cutting degree requirements is a desire to prioritize skills over degrees (72 percent), create a more diverse workforce (66 percent), and increase the number of applicants for these roles (46 percent); and 3 in 4 business leaders at companies that have removed requirements say it’s been beneficial to the company. While companies have removed requirements for some roles, all still require a bachelor’s degree for at least a few. More specifically, 40 percent of business leaders indicate that many roles at their company still have this requirement.
Managing inventory
Inaccurate inventory management due to miscalculated inventory and misread purchase orders leads to backorders, delays in fulfillment, partial shipments, logistical complications, and higher shipping costs, according to a study published by IHL Group, a global research and advisory firm specializing in technologies for the retail and hospitality industries. The study, “Retail Inventory Distortion Study – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – 2023,” shows that when ready-to-buy customers visit a store an cannot find items, it results in $1.2 trillion in losses for retailers; overstocks led to heavy discounts and spoilage for retailers in 2023, causing $562 billion in losses; supply chain accuracy in U.S. retail operations is only 63 percent; 43 percent of small businesses do not track their inventory; supply chain disruptions can lead to financial losses of up to 62 percent; and companies adopting proactive supply chain management see 95 percent higher profit margins compared to those that do not.
Culture
The second annual Lewis Latimer House Museum’s Black Historic Sites in Conversation series promoting the legacy of Black heritage sites, organizations, and cultural centers in New York City, will host monthly online talks with guest speakers from Mother A.M.E Zion Church, the Apollo Theater, Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, and Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, beginning Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The museum is a Landmarked home, Queen Anne-style, wood-frame suburban residence constructed between 1887 and 1889 by the Sexton family. African-American inventor, electrical pioneer and son of two self-emancipated slaves, Lewis Howard Latimer, lived in the house from 1903 until his death in 1928. The house served not only as Latimer’s home, but also as a community space for other Black pioneers and activists. Today, the Museum is a fully functional public, cultural institution that provides primary research materials dedicated to Latimer’s legacy and that of other innovators of color.