Those of us who can remember the Internet becoming a fixture in the workplace also remember a lot of so-called experts making dumb predictions. Such as “it’s just a fad” and “people will always want the printed page” to “the robots are going to take over!”
Fast forward to today and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT. Let’s face it: AI will cost a lot of people their jobs and disrupt a range of fields, including finance.
Just how much will AI disrupt business over the next two years? The next five? Who knows, anyone’s guess is as good as the next person’s.
That all being said … professionals in the finance sector should be keeping their tech skills up to date and prepare for AI in the workplace. The alternative is being replaced.
Watch out! AI is coming down the track
Several tech experts told Business Insider what kind of jobs they think AI is best suited to handle. Several of the professions are in the finance realm and sales/marketing arena:
Accountants: Despite being a stable profession, AI will definitely “put some people out of a job,” predicts Brett Caraway, associate professor with the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto.
Traders: AI like ChatGPT will upend trading and and investment banking jobs on Wall Street. “[AI is] going to automate select tasks that knowledge workers are engaged in today so that they can focus on higher-value tasks,” says Dylan Roberts, a partner at KPMG.
Market research analysts: “[C]ollecting data, identifying trends within that data, and then using what they found to design an effective marketing campaign or decide where to place advertising” is something that AI can do very well, predicts Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.
Financial analysts and financial advisors: Jobs that require “manipulating significant amounts of numerical data” are a natural fit for AI. “AI can identify trends in the market, highlight what investments in a portfolio are doing better and worse, communicate all that … to forecast a better investment mix,” says Muro.
Other jobs that AI is sure to affect:
- IT – coders, computer programmers, software engineers, data analysts
- Media – advertising, content creation, technical writing, journalism
- Law – paralegals, legal assistants, and
- Customer service agents.
