Survey: 28% of workers fear AI will diminish or replace their role

Artificial intelligence is changing workplace roles at a rapid pace, with 44% of U.S. employees saying that AI processes have been incorporated into their job function in the past 12 months, according to survey results published by Grant Thornton. 

Twenty-eight percent of respondents expressed concerns about the possibility of their job being reduced or replaced by AI, according to a report on the findings. 

Such workers “may be put more at ease if they have a full understanding of how to take advantage of the technology and use it to improve their performance,” the report said. 

The study is the latest to underscore tech-related anxieties companies must address in their workforce as they introduce new tools like AI that some employees may find threatening. 

More than 30% of all workers could see at least half of their occupation’s tasks disrupted by generative AI, according to a recent report from the Brookings Institution. 

Unlike previous automation technologies that primarily affected routine, blue collar work, generative AI is likely to disrupt a different array of “cognitive” and “nonroutine” functions, especially in middle- to higher-paid professions, Brookings found. 

“[E]ven as generative AI has the potential to boost incomes, enhance productivity, and open up new possibilities, it also risks degrading jobs and rights, devaluing skills, and rendering livelihoods insecure,” the think tank said. 

Fears surrounding AI and automation are among a host of challenges facing today’s workers, who are also coping with increased burnout, global conflicts, post-pandemic inflation, and a stressful political environment, according to the Grant Thornton study. 

Thirty-two percent of the survey respondents said their mental well-being has gotten worse in the past 12 months, while 30% said it has improved and 38% said it is about the same. 

“Business leaders would do well to acknowledge that these issues exist and assess the impact they have on the organization’s ability to achieve its business objectives,” Grant Thornton said. “This will require supporting leaders in diagnosing and addressing the challenges throughout every aspect of the talent lifecycle to uncover opportunities to reduce burnout and retain employees.”