By Lauren Weber, Lindsay Ellis, The Wall Street Journal
Compilation: BitpushNews Linn Liu
Accountants are among the careers most vulnerable to generative artificial intelligence technologies, according to a new study. The researchers found that at least half of all accounting tasks could be done faster with the technology.
Mathematicians, interpreters, writers and nearly 20 percent of the U.S. workforce could also be affected by generative AI, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and OpenAI, the company behind the AI tool ChatGPT.
ChatGPT has caused quite a stir among companies, schools, governments, and the general public because of its ability to process large amounts of information and generate complex answers to user requests.
Publishing their paper online this month, the researchers examined the extent to which new technology GPT, powered by software called large language models, that can analyze and generate text, could affect occupations. They analyzed that GPTs (generative pre-trained transformers) and software incorporating them can reduce the time required to complete tasks by at least 50%. Research has found that state-of-the-art GPT excels at tasks such as translation, classification, creative writing and generating computer code.
They found that most jobs will be impacted in some way by GPT, with generative AI helping 80 percent of workers complete at least one job task in their occupation. They found that jobs related to information processing, such as public relations specialists, court reporters and blockchain engineers, were most affected. Jobs least affected by the technology include fast-food cooks, motorcycle mechanics and oil and gas workers.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers used a government database of occupations and their associated activities and tasks, and assessed human and AI exposure levels to activities and tasks.
Matt Beane, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said the researchers did not predict which jobs would disappear or who would lose their jobs as a result. “Researching the impact of technology on occupations cannot predict what will happen to the labor market and how quickly it will change, because humans will reject changes that harm their interests,” he said. As a result, the process of implementing new technology is often fraught with negotiation, resistance, fear, and hope.
Assistant Professor Beane said, “The real challenge posed by the emergence of new technologies is how companies, schools and policy makers can help people adapt. For example, training workers to effectively collaborate with technology and redesigning jobs to increase autonomy in many positions , wages, and career prospects.”
While many employers are concerned about the technology’s safety and accuracy, many individual users are already using generative AI to work faster.
Michael Quash, a 32-year-old broadcast engineer from Richmond, Virginia, said he finds his productivity increases when he uses ChatGPT to complete monotonous tasks or solve complex coding problems. “ChatGPT can be an efficiency multiplier,” he said.
His employer, Audacy Inc., said it was letting employees try out the tool. “Like many media companies, we believe ChatGPT has value for certain processes,” said Sarah Foss, Audacy’s CTO.
Other recent studies have also found that generative AI can save a lot of time and produce better results than humans. In an experiment at MIT, researchers studied college-educated professionals, dividing 444 paid copywriters, marketers, consultants, HR professionals and other workers into two groups. Both groups were asked to complete short written tasks, while one group could use ChatGPT to do so.
Those with access to ChatGPT completed the task 10 minutes faster than those without ChatGPT. According to the study, which was published in March and has not yet been peer-reviewed, outside readers who assessed the quality of the assignments said workers assisted by AI did better than the other group.
Another paper published last week by researchers at Microsoft Corp. analyzed GPT-4, the latest version of the OpenAI tool, and found that it can solve “novel and difficult tasks” in areas such as mathematics, programming, medicine, law and psychology. comparable to humans.
Amanda Richardson, CEO of technical interview platform CoderPad, said she has used ChatGPT to write slides for her presentations on the technical field. The tool creates a basic outline, and she can then look up specific details as needed to craft a more convincing presentation.
CoderPad’s customers are businesses looking to hire talent. They ask job candidates to demonstrate their technical abilities using CoderPad. Richardson advises clients to explicitly incorporate ChatGPT into the interview process: Have candidates use ChatGPT to solve problems, then have them critique ChatGPT answers. Does this code have any security holes? Is it scalable? What’s good or bad about it? Richardson said: “Using this method of interviewing is conducive to improving development efficiency.”