Welcome to the age of blended workforces, where intelligent machines and humans combine to accelerate business success. In short, now that we have increasingly capable robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems – capable of taking on tasks that were previously the sole domain of humans – it's easier than ever for organizations to leverage intelligent machines. But this leaves employers with some major questions to answer: how do we find the right balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? And which roles are best suited to humans?

BOSTON--Technology is upending labor markets, and governments, companies, and individuals need to look beyond aggregate numbers and consider how individual professions will be affected. The report, titled The Future of Jobs in the Era of AI, is being released today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Faethm. In the report, the authors look at a variety of factors to determine how the supply and demand for individual types of jobs will change. These include shifts in the size of national workforces due to college graduation rates, retirements, and mortality, along with technology adoption rates and the impact of COVID-19 on economic growth. The result is a highly detailed analysis for all three countries across multiple scenarios.

In 2003, the cyber fiction writer William Gibson coined the intriguing phrase; "The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed". When it comes to the workplace, this statement most certainly holds true. There is so much to be excited about as technology continues to evolve and be integrated into our workplaces: whether it be the ever-expanding capabilities of robotics, the rise of artificial intelligence, or the introduction of other intelligent technologies. But as with any great societal change, opportunity for some spells uncertainty for others. The integration of automation in organisations will undoubtedly bring productivity benefits, but there is one as yet unanswered question that looms around these discussions; what will happen once demand for certain roles and their functions can be fulfilled almost entirely by technology?

According to a Faethm AI forecast, over 1.4 million jobs in the UK could be replaced by automation this year alone. Faethm's mission is to prepare the world "for the future of work" by using an AI engine – trained on billions of workforce data points – to predict what jobs need reskilling versus upskilling. "Employers and employees alike need to change their perspective. The future of work is already here and the introduction of technology does not affect work in a uniform way. We must acknowledge where it supplements existing work and invest in a targeted reskilling approach that recognises the new roles technology is creating and ensures human and machine labour complement one another. Doing so will not only help businesses add capacity and increase productivity, but also ensure they are looking after employees--making financially beneficial and morally responsible decisions and creating a digitally-adept workforce for the future."