Central Ohio’s workforce is changing — and one driver of that change is artificial intelligence.
As part of WOSU's INSIDE: Reshaping Work series, WOSU’s Allie Vugrincic talked with Jeff Dotson, a professor at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, about how AI is influencing jobs and careers, and whether AI will result in job gains or job losses.
Allie Vugrincic: So, artificial intelligence is everywhere. We hear it will revolutionize the workplace and make employees more efficient. We also hear it'll eliminate jobs.
Jeff Dotson: So, maybe two observations. We do hear these claims all of the time and they're kind of a combination of both, exciting if you believe they can help you become more productive as a worker, (and) they're also terrifying if you're a little bit worried about getting laid off. And so I would say in my experience — and this is from teaching students at Ohio State — I also do a lot of executive training through Ohio State as well. I would say that we are seeing a real discernible increase in the adoption of AI by a lot of companies. Not all companies, but a lot of companies. And we're starting to see real improvements in productivity. So, these tools are helping people do things that they could have done otherwise in a way that's more efficient, faster, maybe more thorough. In terms of mass adoption by companies, I think we're still kind of early in this process in ways that I think are not necessarily consistent with some of the messaging that we get from Silicon Valley specifically.
Allie Vugrincic: In general, technology creates jobs and eliminates jobs. On the positive side, are there new AI jobs and careers out there?
Jeff Dotson: We don't know yet. So, a lot of it's speculation. Certainly, it's becoming a prerequisite for entry into a lot of jobs, but I don't know that I'm seeing new jobs specifically that are being created. But we're very early in this adoption cycle.
Allie Vugrincic: Are there any jobs that have already become obsolete or will become obsolete because of artificial intelligence?
Jeff Dotson: Maybe. We are seeing declines in jobs. A lot of tech companies in particular are cutting engineering positions. We know one of the things that these systems do very well is coding. Not necessarily a replacement for an engineer, but it can take the average engineer and make them much more efficient at what they do. And so I think some of the claims around job loss in engineering is the result of, you know, 'I don't need 12 engineers to do the work that one person plus a cloud code subscription can do.' That said, again, we don't know if that's real or if that is a claim that's been made and these layoffs are happening for other types of reasons, but our students graduating from Ohio State are still getting jobs in that space.
Allie Vugrincic: If someone is entering the workforce for the first time — or looking to switch careers — what should they be thinking about when it comes to AI?
Jeff Dotson: I think the best thing to do is to be familiar with the tools, to understand their strengths and their limitations and to think about how they can help you level up as an employee. So, I teach in the marketing department. Our marketing students should graduate knowing how to use AI for uses such as brainstorming, as a way of helping them generate content, think about pricing decisions.
Allie Vugrincic: Clearly your students are learning how to use AI. Are they also thinking about artificial intelligence when they choose their field of study or plan for their future?
Jeff Dotson: If I'm not mistaken, I think we are starting to see maybe a decline in enrollment within computer science programs. I think this is more of a national trend than maybe an Ohio State trend. And that probably is a reflection of the fact that what we're being communicated to, what we are hearing through the news is that there is a reduction in these opportunities. Ergo, maybe study something a little bit different.
Allie Vugrincic: You mentioned that a lot of this is uncertain. Do you think people should still be pursuing careers in engineering and computer science?
Jeff Dotson: I do. I mean, I think there's something very powerful to understanding how systems function, whether or not AI replaces entry-level engineering positions or not. The engineers that do the best work with AI are the ones that really understand how these systems function, what their strengths are, what their vulnerabilities are. I would say it would be a mistake at this point in time to lean too heavily on the hype that we're hearing when making decisions about what types of careers to pursue.
