AI’s capabilities are advancing at “breath-taking speed” and the technology is now poised to have a “seismic impact” on British society, new research predicts.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said its analysis of computer-based tasks routinely performed by white-collar workers found that up to 70% of their work could be significantly transformed or replaced by AI. “This means a large number of jobs could ‘feel’ its impact, and it will also increasingly affect high paying jobs too,” the research group said in its report published Friday.
The IPPR said artificial intelligence is having the greatest impact on jobs that involve IT-related tasks, such as project management, marketing, and administrative support.
The technology is already being applied to existing workflows, but its has the potential to change the ways in which the economy works. “Processes will increasingly be changed and built around cheap generative intelligence, rather than around humans,” the group predicts.
Last year, the IPPR warned that as many as 8 million British workers were at risk of losing their jobs to AI and no GDP gain in the in the worst-case scenario. “A jobs apocalypse is not inevitable,” the group said, but the government would need to work with employers and unions to preserve and help create new automation-safe jobs.
The labor market disruptions prompted by AI has become the subject of much debate by think tanks, corporate research groups, economists and other experts seeking to estimate how much of the workforce is either affected or at risk to the new technology.
Early next week, the AI Action Summit will take place in Paris where a number of world leaders and industry player will gather to discuss the development and future goals of using AI. French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are co-hosting the gathering. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is also slated to attend the event, alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai.
But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be a notable absence. He is reportedly staying away to focus on domestic issues.
Last month, Starmer vowed to make Britain “one of the great AI superpowers,” while unveiling plans for the development of the nation’s AI industry. He said the technology could increase the U.K.’s productivity by 1.5% annually, and add another £47 billion ($58 billion) to the econmy each year over a decade.
His AI Action Plan promises to adopt a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, make public data available to researchers and create growth zones for more AI infrastructure.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge the Plan for Change. That means more jobs and investment in the U.K., more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services,” Starmer said.
