According to the latest MLIV Pulse survey, the latest poll shows that the use of artificial intelligence systems by the financial, legal and technology sectors is a serious threat to jobs in the financial, legal and technology sectors.
More than two-thirds of 292 respondents said they didn't view their jobs as being at risk anytime soon, even though they work predominantly in the financial sector.
Artificial intelligence has been in development for a long time. In recent months a surge in interest in so-called generative AI - products - most notably OpenAI's ChatGPT and DALL-E products - has caused widespread excitement among investors who believe it could also generate huge financial rewards.
The participants of MLIV Pulse were split almost evenly on whether these kinds of technologies were worth investing in. There was an apparent lack of professional use of artificial intelligence from a majority of investors, with only 12% saying they used one and just 27% saying they planned to. More than half of the respondents said they aren't even considering using AI to help them invest.
This contrasts with recent rallies in the market for companies connected to advanced AI, fueled by the widespread publicity of ChatGPT and Microsoft Corp.'s $10 billion investment in OpenAI, its developer. Companies such as BuzzFeed Inc. C 3. ai Inc. SoundHound AI Inc. and BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. are some of the stocks that have seen huge jumps in volume along with dizzy swings in their share prices.
Read more: We asked ChatGPT to make a Market-Beating ETF. Businesses and investors are trying to become the go-to names for technology that can create media such as text and pictures from simple prompts or hold human-like conversations on a wide variety of topics, from whether a cat would win a fight with an eagle to practical considerations about world events or school projects. Microsoft is up against Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. in trying to give the smartest AI tools to the greatest number of people.
Only 49% of respondents said they planned to buy stocks with exposure to such generative AI tools because of the promise of tools like ChatGPT. More than 41% of the respondents said they intended to increase exposure to tech stocks more broadly, while 38% said they d hold steady over the next six months.
Even before the current wave of interest in AI, the question of whether smart automation will create more opportunities than displaces has been a topic of great interest to workers and businesses, not to mention the Pentagon and the UK government. Many companies making job cuts at unprecedented levels are investing billions in AI capabilities in the year 2023.
In January, Alphabet announced 12,000 job cuts globally, but at the same time Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai singled out AI as a key investment area. Microsoft had a $10 billion investment in OpenAI just days after it said it would lay off 10,000 employees. In this regard, neither company is unique.
There are very interesting AI wars between tech companies, according to Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton.
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