New EY position paper on artificial intelligence: trust will be a key success factor for people, AI and the economy

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• AI will become our “life partner”. This will have an impact on the world of work and influence customer relationships.
• AI will not replace people, but will in fact complement and support them. Worldwide, 69 million new jobs will be created and 83 million will be lost. Based on a survey of 673 million jobs worldwide, this means that the loss of conventional jobs will be compensated for by almost the same number of new jobs (-2% net growth). Positive net growth is even possible in the medium term.
  
• Richer countries such as Switzerland will be more affected by generative AI and its impact on employment. In Switzerland, one in twenty jobs is potentially at risk.
  
• The legal and ethical framework continues to lag behind: regardless of efforts to establish national legislation on AI and the forthcoming EU AI law, which is expected to be relevant to Switzerland from 2026, it will now be crucial for companies and society at large to take on responsibility.

Zurich, 14 December 2023 – Will artificial intelligence replace humans at work? What needs to be done to prevent the misuse of AI? Will people and machines soon trust each other – or even fall in love with each other? In its newly published position paper, EY takes a look into the future of artificial intelligence and provides an initial response to three propositions.

Proposition 1: Most jobs will not disappear – AI will open up new fields of work.

The impact of technological developments on employment will have a net positive effect in the medium term. Artificial intelligence, big data analytics and automation are likely to be the biggest drivers behind employment growth. The sectors that will benefit include healthcare, education and the public sector. Generative AI has already brought about major improvements in terms of quality and efficiency in the diagnosis and evaluation of medical data, for example. In sectors with highly involved administration, a major increase in efficiency can be achieved by automating work processes.

Around two-thirds of 1,200 CEOs surveyed internationally by EY believe that the jobs affected by AI will be replaced by new ones. According to a WEF report, out of 673 million jobs worldwide, a net total of 2% (around 14 million) will be lost to AI.

In richer countries such as Switzerland, AI will have a more negative impact on jobs than in poorer countries. 5.5% of jobs are at risk in Switzerland compared to 0.4% in poorer countries. This will be the result of automation through generative AI, which will have a greater impact on office jobs.

It will be crucial for people to acquire new skills in the use of AI. Key aspects here will be education, retraining and adapting corporate culture in general. In an AI-friendly culture, companies will foster an AI-savvy workforce, support employee enthusiasm and reward innovation.

Proposition 2: There is no guarantee of ethical and legally secure use

Everyone has to get involved – society at large, policymakers and companies. There will be a sharp increase in pressure to develop new sets of rules and adapt existing ones at a very fast pace. As far as regulation is concerned, it will be important to strike a balance between promoting innovation, protecting consumers and avoiding unintended consequences. At the same time, companies must take additional measures in the areas of law, data privacy and compliance with the aim of ensuring the ethical and secure use of AI. There will be a race between technological innovation and development on the one hand and government regulation on the other. While AI is the cause of the pace, it could also be the solution. According to Adrian Ott, Partner and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at EY Switzerland: “Companies often see regulations as a brake on innovation. But if they are properly understood and implemented through modern risk management, regulatory mechanisms can provide companies with the planning security they need to drive their AI strategy forward on a targeted basis.” In addition to the Swiss regulatory framework, the EU also has a vital role to play.

Switzerland significantly impacted by EU law

The consultation proposal for the European Union’s AI Act is due to be completed by the end of 2023, and it is expected to enter into force in 2026: this will also have an impact on Switzerland. The Act will apply wherever an AI system is deployed inside the EU or its output is used in the EU. This will be the case where Swiss companies make their systems accessible to other companies, public bodies or persons within the EU, for example, or if a forecast, recommendation or decision made in Switzerland by an AI-based system is used within the EU. The Swiss legislative authorities – in this case the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) – are considering implementing their own regulatory framework: the latter is carrying out an analysis with a view to establishing the basis for the Federal Council to be able to issue a specific mandate for an AI regulatory proposal in 2025 and define responsibilities. This analysis will build on existing Swiss legislation and identify potential regulatory approaches for Switzerland that are compatible with the EU’s AI regulation and the Council of Europe’s AI Convention. Both international regulations will be relevant to Switzerland.

All of this is already having tangible and far-reaching consequences for companies. As Madan Sathe explains, Partner and Head of Data Analytics and AI for Financial Services at EY Switzerland: “Rules are important, but more is needed than this: risk management and compliance are already having to be adapted to a company’s individual situation regarding AI. Data privacy and security will be at the very heart of business activity.” AI will have a key role to play in data management and will have to be regulated at the top level of management. In this context, it will be crucial to promote a data-driven and AI-driven mindset and corporate culture, and above all to embrace such a mindset in practice.

Proposition 3: Artificial intelligence will significantly change the decisions we make in our social lives, increasingly controlling and shaping them. AI will become our life partner.

Situations shown in films such as Her where people fall in love with AI could soon become a reality, even impacting the world of work. More and more people will develop an emotional connection to an AI or chatbot developed in connection with virtual assistants and entertainment applications. In an area of technology that is still controversial, it is already possible to put together the perfect digital chat partner using large language models which simulate an intimate relationship based on the creator’s wishes.

Even now, AI is being used in connection with dating platforms and apps to analyse user profiles and make recommendations for potential partners. These recommendations are often based on algorithms that evaluate personal preferences and draw on machine learning to find a suitable partner.

Developments of this nature are having an impact on the world of work, too: algorithms and insights from interpersonal applications can be derived for the purpose of customised customer relationship models. Customers leave their digital footprints every time they interact with a company. This offers opportunities for companies to use customer data of this kind to employ artificial intelligence to optimise customer relationship management (CRM) processes, better understand customers and make the most of sales potential. Emotions also have an important role to play here.

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