Economic Impact of Generative AI on Marginalized Communities

Welcome to Data Science Dojo’s weekly newsletter, “The Data-Driven Dispatch“. In this week’s dispatch, we’ll understand the generative AI impact on marginalized communities.

Change is usually uncomfortable. But is it always bad? Well, no!

Tech revolutions in the history of mankind have made people anxious about losing jobs. Take the automobile industry as an example. It caused a stir among the people in the horse carriage industry facing strong condemnations.

However, as we look at it retrospectively, it led to the creation of multiple supplementary industries, such as filling stations and automobile repair, and subsequently benefitted the economy and the people immensely.

Fast forward to 2024, and we are facing a similar tension among us.

Generative AI is poised to automate 60-70% of current employee work time in the future creating a world where people will have personal assistants that can help them increase their productivity.

However, this also means that companies will start laying off employees – A trend that has started to show in big tech like Google and Amazon.

If we zoom into this situation, we’ll see that the marginalized communities will be the ones facing the higher consequences of this revolution given the historic gap in opportunities for them.

What does the rise of gen AI mean for marginalized communities? How will this tech revolution uniquely impact them? Let’s explore this in this dispatch!

Marginalized communities consist of groups that have faced systemic disadvantages and exclusion in society. This includes racial and ethnic minorities like African Americans, people with disabilities, etc.

Why Will Generative AI Affect the Jobs of the Black Communities:

About 74% of black workers do not have college degrees. Hence, the only way for them to get into a high-growth career is usually to get a high-mobility job.

High-mobility jobs are those jobs that provide livable wages and the potential for upward career development over time without requiring a four-year college degree.

They have two tiers, Gateway Jobs and Target Jobs.

1. Gateway jobs are based on experience rather than degrees and offer a salary of more than $42,000 per year.
2. Target jobs, the next level up for people without degrees, are attractive due to their risk and income profile, offering generally higher annual salaries and stable positions.

For black workers, this is particularly relevant as one in every eight black Americans has moved to a gateway or target job.

However, gen AI may be able to perform about half of these gateway or target jobs that many workers without degrees have pursued between 2030 and 2060. This could close a pathway to upward mobility that many Black workers have relied on.

Read: Bridging the Divide – Understanding The Generative AI Impact on the Communities of Color

Generative AI Impact on the Jobs of Women:

The jobs of women are likely to be impacted by gen AI due to societal biases that have historically pushed women into certain roles that are now highly exposed to automation.

The Kenan Institute’s analysis suggests that a higher percentage of working women are in white-collar jobs as opposed to blue-collar roles, which makes them more susceptible to AI-driven changes in the workforce.

Read: Cracking the Paradox: Economic Impact of Generative AI

The Paradox of the Emergence and Extinction of Jobs Ft. Generative AI

Here’s a great analysis highlighting the impact of Gen AI, specifically focusing on the range of jobs it will automate and the new opportunities it is expected to create in the professional landscape.

The discussion primarily focuses on the following points:

• AI is currently employed in numerous workplaces, including customer service, data analysis, and manufacturing sectors.
• Research indicates that AI might result in significant job losses, especially in white-collar professions.
• AI has the potential to generate new job opportunities, particularly in the fields of AI system development and maintenance.

Were you fooled by this riddle as a child? Don’t worry, ChatGPT was also tricked by it.

Navigating the Generative AI Revolution Optimistically

We understand that AI will alter how things are for us. But it’s time we navigate this situation optimistically. How can that be done? Well, history carries the answer for us. Reskilling and solving the challenges posed by AI.

1. Best Skills to Learn; Building Language Model-Powered Applications

Without a doubt, we recommend exploring how language models work and learning to develop applications using them. This knowledge will equip you to be a part of the automation movement.

Here’s a roadmap to take your first step.

Pro-tip: Check out our comprehensive Large Language Models Bootcamp– It’s an extensive 40 hour training

Finally, let’s end the day with some headlines of the week.

1. AI will affect almost 40 percent of jobs around the world, replacing some and complementing others – IMF. Read more
2. Rabbit’s AI-powered gadget, capable of operating apps automatically, sells out in 48 hours. Read more
3. Indian Company “Tensoic” Unveils ‘Kannada Llama’, a breakthrough in AI language models in the Kannada language. Read more
4. Norwegian robotics startup 1X, backed by OpenAI, raises $100M for AI-enhanced androids and business expansion. Read more
5. A new study from Anthropic exposes deceptive ‘sleeper agents’ lurking in AI’s core. Read more