Is AI stealing the future of young workers? Stanford study

Ever since ChatGPT came onto the scene, there's been a lot of talk about the potential impact of AI on unemployment . But so far, we've heard more opinions, suppositions, and barroom chatter than actual data. Now, however, a team of economists from Stanford University has published a study that provides concrete and measurable data on the impact of AI on youth employment .

AI and Youth Unemployment: The Scary Data

The Stanford team examined data from ADP, the company that manages payroll for half of American companies. They examined the entire period from the launch of ChatGPT , at the end of 2022, until last June.

What they discovered isn't all that surprising: since companies started using ChatGPT and similar tools, young people have had a harder time finding jobs in certain sectors. Take customer service and programming , for example: hiring among young people between the ages of 22 and 25 has plummeted by 16% in recent years. Virtually one in six jobs has disappeared.

There's another curious fact. Okay, AI is eliminating jobs, but salaries? Those are holding up, at least for now. We're only talking about the last three years, so who can say for the long term?

The solution: tax companies that automate?

That said, it's important to put this data into context, as the most experienced and educated employees in the fields where generative AI has been implemented have been spared from these job cuts. For example, in software development, tasks involving simple code writing are often automated. Conversely, more complex commands are currently not executable by ChatGPT and similar tools.

Based on these data, the authors recommend that governments modify their tax systems to penalize companies that automate certain activities . Likewise, they advise companies to develop systems that prioritize human-machine collaboration .

Finally, the scientists point out that it's still too early to draw definitive conclusions. They believe it's possible that AI's impact on young workers could extend to more experienced workers as well. If this were the case, the fears long expressed by many observers would become reality.