News: 0175548541

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Job Seekers Doubt AI's Promised Productivity Gains

(Tuesday November 26, 2024 @10:30PM (BeauHD) from the despite-the-hype dept.)


Despite significant enterprise AI hype, most job seekers [1]remain unconvinced of its benefits , with 69% doubting its ability to enhance work performance and 62% skeptical it reduces workloads. The findings come from [2]a study conducted by Resume Genius. The Register reports:

> Consistent with the majority opinion that AI in the workplace has failed to impress, only 34 percent of respondents said they were worried about being replaced by a bot, while just 30 percent think AI will increase competition for jobs or harm salaries. Broken down by generation (Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z job seekers all responded), the results are largely the same, with even Gen Z workers skeptical of the latest "next big thing" in enterprise tech. In short, Resume Genius's findings align with other recent studies suggesting enterprise AI's hype has not lived up to its marketing promises.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/20/resume_genius_ai_survey/

[2] https://resumegenius.com/blog/job-hunting/job-seeker-insights-survey#ai


So of course it's not going to reduce workloads (Score:2)

by rsilvergun ( 571051 )

Because if your boss notices your workload going down he's going to do one of two things. He's either going to add to that workload to bring it back up do the maximum you'll take before you break or he's going to fire you during his staff cuts because of the increased productivity.

You need a massively growing economy with lots of competition in order to keep up with automation and technological unemployment. You need entire new markets that just don't exist anymore.

Seriously if you actually dig into

Re:So of course it's not going to reduce workloads (Score:4, Funny)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

Did you ever think that maybe one day in the not-so-distant future you could have your very own LLM trained on your /. posts? Then you'll finally have the free time to take up gardening, yoga, or standing by the side of the road yelling at passing Tesla drivers that their cars are emitting rubber particles from their tires. Just imagine the amazing possibilities it could open up.

Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

by Entrope ( 68843 )

Predictably, rsilvergun charges in with a hot take about how evil automobiles and electric streetlights are because they put most farriers and lamplighters out of work.

And goddammit, this is a repeat from [1]earlier today [slashdot.org].

[1] https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23532471&cid=64973587

Technology often doesn't decrease work loads. (Score:4, Insightful)

by waspleg ( 316038 )

It increases productivity. Your pay stays the same or less (inflation will mean you're taking a pay cut anyway). So you're doing more while getting paid the same, which is also a pay cut. We are currently living in a Black Mirror/Twilight Zone episode.

Re: (Score:2)

by narcc ( 412956 )

Only the dullest of the proles ever believed that nonsense.

No fucking shit (Score:2)

by paul_engr ( 6280294 )

It's a technology trap

AI isn't used to boost productivity, silly (Score:2)

by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 )

That's what Sam Altman and Satya Nadella say to trick people into not seeing the true purpose of AI and taking a pitchfork to them.

The true purpose of AI is to replace expensive human workers by cheap machine slave labor, even if it means enshittifying the entire society in the process.

It's been counterproductive for me (Score:2)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

I've been spending way too much time playing around with ChatGPT and Suno to make AI generated songs. If I had all that time back... actually, scratch that, I probably still would've found something else to waste my time on. Like getting a 3D printer so I can curse at it after it botches a 20 hour print job. That sounds fun.

Took about 15 years to figure out (Score:2)

by Tablizer ( 95088 )

...how to make the web profitable. Early co's relied on investment money. The recent AI boom looks to be following a similar curve. I'm not claiming it's "not helpful" for certain tasks, only that it's not reimbursing the vast investment money that has been dumped into it so far.

Re: (Score:2)

by narcc ( 412956 )

> . I'm not claiming it's "not helpful" for certain tasks

I am. I've yet to find anything that it does with any degree of reliability that it does faster or better than the alternatives. For many of the tasks I've seen people use it for or I've seen people advocate its use for, I'd take it a step farther and call it "harmful".

100% will not reduce workloads (Score:2)

by Gravis Zero ( 934156 )

If you become more productive, they will simply demand you to do more. Your workload will never decrease because if it does then they will simply fire people and then give you their work.

We have no idea what... (Score:2)

by MpVpRb ( 1423381 )

...future AI will be able to do. It's a long term research project.

There is a chance that it will allow us to solve previously intractable problems and accomplish great things.

Today's AI is only good for generating crap

Re: (Score:2)

by narcc ( 412956 )

> There is a chance that it will allow us to solve previously intractable problems and accomplish great things.

Indeed. As it happens, that chance is at or below 0%.

Of course, I'm talking about LLMs here as that seems to be what people mean when they say 'AI' these days. Other forms of AI have been and will continue to be incredibly useful.

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