Will we become an army of AI babysitters? Workforce planning in the age of AI

Will we become an army of AI babysitters? Workforce planning in the age of AI.

AI can—and should—be about much more than letting Otter attend a meeting or ChatGPT draft an email. 

Emma Goldberg's recent piece in The New York Times posed a question I love seeing in my quest for a happier future of work: “Will A.I. Kill Meaningless Jobs?”

As AI capabilities continue to develop at breakneck speeds (in our Lead with AI community, we discussed countless innovations this week alone), should replanning our org charts be at the top of the priority lists?

Let’s dive in.

Which Roles Will AI Take Next?

Studies from Goldman Sachs, the WEF, and McKinsey I’ve quoted before show that there could be hundreds of millions of jobs AI will replace.

And AI is already transforming many industries by automating tasks we once thought required human touch. 

While we may have had computers support us for some time, as Joshua Rothman writes for The New Yorker, they are surpassing us left and right.

“The tables aren’t so much turned as upended. In some cases, we seem to be looking upward at the machines (no human being can write with an A.I.’s fluidity and speed, for example).”

He explores how the distinction between human and machine capabilities is becoming increasingly blurred, as it generates poetry, writes code, and even assists in scientific research. 

And while his article concludes that AI could never be humanlike, because it isn’t human, that doesn’t mean that jobs are safe. 

Emma Goldberg's impressive NYT piece states that roles like executive assistants, telemarketers, and certain software engineering positions are prime candidates for automation. 

She highlights the case of a writer who made some extra money drafting emails for business people. Until now:

“One of Ms. Eden’s most reliable clients owned a chocolate company and paid her 50 cents a word to draft his emails. This year, the chocolatier called to say he would start using ChatGPT instead.”

Emma also asks whether it’s generally a problem that joyless jobs like data entry and administrative work are going the way of the dinosaurs.

She quotes the late anthropologist David Graeber who labeled such jobs as "flunky," "goon," and "box-ticker" jobs in an essay called “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” (I hadn’t heard of it, but love the premise.)

These jobs, which many workers themselves find meaningless, could be the first to go, because as Emma explains:

“David Graeber suggested that the economist John Maynard Keynes’s dream of a 15-hour workweek had never come to pass because humans have invented millions of jobs so useless that even the people doing them can’t justify their existence.”

AI’s ability to handle repetitive, monotonous tasks (without ever complaining to HR about working conditions) means it could soon replace roles that don’t require complex cognitive skills or deep human empathy. 

But, posits Emma towards the end of the article, if AI takes over too much, do we become nothing but AI babysitters, checking a firehose of subpar work?

This brings the risk of even lower-paying jobs with less opportunities for growth “and even less meaning.”

Remain, Change, Reduce, Go Away, and Emerge.

For you and I, crafters of a better world of work, the rise of AI presents both challenges and opportunities. 

On one hand, automating mundane tasks can free up employees to focus on more meaningful work. 

This could lead to a more engaged and satisfied workforce, as employees are liberated from the drudgery of repetitive tasks. As Matt Kropp, BCG X’s Chief Technology Officer, told me in the first episode of the Lead with AI podcast: 

“There’s a lot of work that is not value-added. In typical jobs, up to 25% of people's work is just administrative tasks that they don't enjoy doing and that you can automate. And so we really have an opportunity to change the way people work." – Matt Kropp, Chief Technology Officer, BCG X

However, this shift also requires a strategic approach to workforce planning. 

One effort required is to map out which roles will remain, change, reduce, go away, but also importantly, emerge.

Understanding which future roles will exist in an organization can inform upskilling, talent acquisition, and talent mobility efforts. 

Already, 66% of leaders want AI skills, and people with these skills can make up to 49% more.

As a viral discussion about a company’s Microsoft Copilot painfully highlighted, training efforts for those AI skills, however, are underwhelming, to say the least.

Do we risk more layoffs, like in the case of Intuit, which recently removed 1,800 people to hire 1,800 others with AI skills? 

As their CEO Sasan Goodarzi said, this was a preemptive move. In his eyes, it’s ‘better to disrupt yourself’ than wait and see. It’s Kodak versus Instagram all over again—a true innovator’s dilemma. 

The Bottom Line: Workforce planning for the age of AI

As AI reshapes the workforce, organizations need to adapt effectively. 

It’s important to keep in mind that jobs are more than just a means of economic survival; they are a source of identity, purpose, and social connection. 

The future of work will be defined by how well organizations can navigate this transition, turning potential disruptions into opportunities for growth and innovation. 

It also means fostering a culture that values human creativity, empathy, and ethical judgment—qualities that A.I., for all its capabilities, cannot replicate. 

It’s not an easy puzzle, but an important one to get going on.

Until next week,

– Daan