New study reveals how AI will change future workplaces

Researchers say artificial intelligence is becoming a new general-purpose technology that will be as impactful on the economy as the steam engine, electricity, and the internet. And the influence of AI will change the structure of businesses, creating a future workplace that empowers junior workers as it cuts middle management positions. The researchers used millions of jobs ads and resumes to assess the stock of current employees and the demand for new ones. Firms using AI are also becoming less top-heavy, flatter, and have higher shares of employees in entry-level and non-management roles and fewer employees in middle management or senior positions. "AI improves the ability to make predictions and decisions, which gives entry-level workers more autonomy and reduces the need for middle management," said Alex Xi He, an assistant professor of finance at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and one of the researchers on the paper.