The world is evolving every day with the introduction of new technologies. If we go back in time, an invention took place in the early 1900s. Further developments in that invention allowed people to connect with each other all over the globe. The invention we are talking about was the radio. But, in 1936, a magazine said that radio harms children as it divides their attention and hampers their school assignments. Cut to today. ChatGPT and other innovations in AI are doing the same thing. It is exciting for a few people and overwhelming for others. AI is changing the way we do repetitive tasks, and it will change the job dynamics of many industries. 

What Is ChatGPT Capable Of?

ChatGPT launched on November 30th, 2022, and it is already known as the whiz-kid of AI. The tool performed various tasks, including writing code for apps, writing emails and songs, editing articles, and even cracking the bar and medical exams in the USA. 

Since it is open for public use, it has created a plethora of opportunities that were previously considered beyond AI’s capabilities. 

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, which is a company backed by Microsoft. Within 2 months of its launch, it became the fastest-growing consumer app in the world, with more than 100 million users by January. 

Not only that, OpenAI has even launched an upgraded version- GPT-4. The new version can analyze images and more extensive texts of up to 25,000 words. It even recreates games within seconds and develops a website from hand-drawn sketches.

Many companies are now rushing to create products built entirely on ChatGPT in industries like finances and customer service.   

But AI has two sides- the company’s and the employee’s sides. 

The Company’s Side

Companies are trying to understand how they can use AI to automate mundane tasks and improve their workflow efficiency. Most industries are just testing and playing out their scopes as AI generative has mainstreamed this technology faster than anyone would have thought.

In his recent article– “The Age of AI has begun,” Bill Gates talked about AI’s possibilities and how it can reduce the world’s worst inequities like education, healthcare, and more.

Accenture’s recent report also states that companies must develop a robust digital core and invest in highly skilled people to unlock the value responsibly. 98% of global executives also believe that AI foundation models will be helpful to their organizations in the coming years. Also, 40% of working hours could be impacted by large language models like GPT-4. 

The Employees

Various reports have stated that multiple jobs are at risk after the introduction of GPT-4 and other AI tools. These tools can write, code, create images, and answer questions in seconds. 

Its impact will be felt across sectors, but no one can predict the repercussions exactly. Previous technological advancements have shown us the impact of overestimating short-term results and underestimating the long-term impact of such things. 

Most people are panicking about their jobs, but before making assumptions, pause and see the real picture. 

The use cases of AI technology are still emerging and will be contextualized further. Also, many industries will see actual productivity benefits with AI tools, and real machine-human collaboration will take place instead of competition in the coming time. 

For example, ChatGPT-4 can generate a website with valuable prompts, but a human will still be needed to check it and make the necessary changes to add context to it before finalizing it. Companies that will completely rely on these tools could face accuracy issues. 

Also, if all the companies and employees start using these tools, the results will resemble each other, and the authenticity will be lost.

Impact of ChatGPT on Tech Jobs

Tech jobs like coding and computer programming are in-demand skills, but there is a possibility that AI tools and ChatGPT might fill in some of the gaps. 

Tech jobs like website developers, software developers, coders, computer programmers, and data scientists are complacent with AI technologies. It is because AI tools like ChatGPT are good at accurately crunching numbers. 

Also, ChatGPT can produce code faster than humans so that the work can be completed with fewer employees. Most experts say that tech companies can finish a project with 3-4 employees instead of a big team. 

OpenAI is also training its technology and increasing its capabilities to replace software engineers. 

Although Oded Nester, a Columbia Business School professor, says that AI will not replace coders, it will instead help them. It will allow programmers to find mistakes in code and enhance them efficiently.

A few coders also feel that AI might not take their job completely because the problem is not writing code but understanding the requirements and writing code according to them. Most experienced coders can also write codes within minutes after understanding the needs. 

The challenge is understanding the requirements, which involves heavy documentation and review. ChatGPT doesn’t have that ability. A human has to understand the needs and give a prompt to the tool for finally writing the code.

ChatGPT will replace mundane and repetitive tasks, but it will not be able to replace skilled workers. Labor-intensive work for software developers is already replaced by tools like GitHub, Co-pilot, and ChatGPT as it generates better and faster code.

The Future of Tech Jobs with ChatGPT

AI has always been the main driver of emerging technologies like robotics, big data, and IoT. It enables systems to access and deploy vast amounts of data and processes without human intervention. 

Currently, ChatGPT is transforming the software development space with the help of AI. It is enabling businesses of all sizes to build. 

Some of the ways tech companies can work collaboratively currently and in the future with ChatGPT are:

• Intelligence and Decision Making

Intelligence and decision making is driven through an AI-powered assembly line. It works similarly; a traditional assembly line and technology department can benefit from what came before. 

The new assembly lines bring learning from frequently used features that can enable companies to build more affordable applications and software at speed and scale. 

Although, when combined with human talent, the software will be delivered at 6x the speed and one-quarter the cost. 

With AI, coders can further amplify their efficiency, as a missing parenthesis or semicolon can cause a severe error. ChatGPT is trained to identify such mistakes automatically and suggest replacements. It can save hours of human time and drastically impact the ROI. 

• Efficiency

Software developers spend unimaginable maintenance hours managing redundant features from the backend. 

Although, with AI, one can reference data across multiple sources to identify the redundancies and streamline ongoing maintenance while saving hours and limiting spending. 

Most AI tools, including ChatGPT-4, are taking testing to the next level with regard to accuracy and speed. The idea is to catch as many errors as possible before the testing phase. So, in the future, this will save a lot of time for companies and developers. It will also make developers’ tasks easy with respect to maintenance and testing. 

• Helps with Research

Most software projects are scrapped because they don’t meet user demands. Many development platforms are under pressure because of high demand, rising costs, and a shortage of skilled developers.  

Understanding, tracking, and validating what users need is labor intensive, but with AI, developers can save time in sifting through pages of analytics and lines of code. AI tools can help to showcase user needs and behaviors, making it easy for developers to fulfill those needs. 

Conclusion

ChatGPT and AI tools will replace a few mundane and repetitive jobs to an extent. However, human intervention will always be needed because, at the end of the day, machines are built to make people’s lives better, not replace them entirely. 

Ultimately, job seekers will have to upskill themselves and acquire specializations in their field of work. For example, AI will never be able to replace essential tasks like a lawyer arguing in court or a pharmacist that sells prescribed drugs. However, a lawyer can use the assistance of a tool like ChatGPT to draft legal notes.

Eventually, even tech companies can add ChatGPT to their workflows, but they will have to strike a balance between integrating human and AI labor to get the job done successfully.