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Artificial intelligence could transform or replace as many as 70 per cent of tasks in computer-based jobs, a new study suggests, prompting calls for greater government oversight of the rapidly developing technology.
Experts at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warn that AI is likely to have a âseismic impactâ on the economy and society, particularly in roles reliant on computer-based tasks.
Project management, marketing, and administrative support are among the professions most likely to be reshaped by AIâs emergence, according to the IPPRâs new report.
The think tankâs analysis of 22,000 common tasks performed by workers found that up to 70 per cent of those in computer-based roles could be significantly altered or even eliminated by AI.
The IPPR argues that current AI policy is overly focused on accelerating adoption and ensuring safety, neglecting the broader “implications of powerful AI”.
It said AI would likely have the greatest impact on organisational, strategic and analytical tasks.
The intervention comes ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit next week, where world leaders, industry experts, tech executives and academics will meet to discuss the international approach to developing and using AI.
Last month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the Governmentâs AI Action Plan â a range of measures designed to make the UK a global leader in AI while also boosting the economy.
That plan focused on increasing AI infrastructure in the UK to support more AI development, as well as creating growth zones around the country, advancing AI safety regulation, and using AI more within the civil service to cut spending and speed up work.
There has been ongoing debate on the technologyâs potential impact on the global jobs market, with many warning of the danger of humans being displaced from work.
However, others, including a number of tech executives, have said the aim of AI is to help workers with tasks and streamline their workloads, rather than replace them.
In recent weeks, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has also launched its first of what are known as AI agents â AI tools which can be programmed to carry out specific tasks autonomously â a new branch of the technology which many see as having a substantial impact on both working and daily life.
And last year, a previous IPPR report warned that as many as eight million UK jobs could be at risk of being lost to AI in the âworst-case scenarioâ.
Carsten Jung, head of AI at the IPPR, warned that politics âneeds to catch upâ with the implications of AI.
âAI capabilities are advancing at breath-taking speed,â he said.
âThe launch of âAI agentsâ shows AI is different from past technologies. It is not merely a tool â it is an actor.
âAI technology could have a seismic impact on economy and society: it will transform jobs, destroy old ones, create new ones, trigger the development of new products and services and allow us to do things we could not do before.
âBut given its immense potential for change, it is important to steer it towards helping us solve big societal problems.
âPolitics needs to catch up with the implications of powerful AI. Beyond just ensuring AI models are safe, we need to determine what goals we want to achieve.
âThis demands democratic debate and close scrutiny of how AI is deployed. The public will want to be involved in setting clear missions and boundaries.
âThe promise of AI to tackle some of humanityâs biggest problems is tantalising â we all have a stake in directing and achieving it.â
Elsewhere in its latest study, the IPPR said wider society was already being changed by AI â with approximately 930,000 people in the UK said to have an AI digital companion on app Character.AI, adding many users had ârelationshipsâ with these chatbots.
The think tank warned that while these AI companions can provide emotional support, they also carry risks of additional and potential long-term psychological impacts, particularly for young people.