With a significant and youthful workforce, Southeast Asia is rapidly embracing digital transformation. This shift opens doors for technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to boost economic development and create fresh job prospects.
Research from Cisco/Oxford Economics suggests that more than 10% of the ASEAN workforce could be displaced by emerging tech tools, with lower-skilled workers in service and agriculture sectors facing the most risk.
ChatGPT, an interactive chatbot, has already found its way into content marketing. While the full extent of its impact is yet to be seen, tools like these have the potential to make certain jobs obsolete.
How soon might this disruption occur, and is it cause for concern?
“Tools such as AI have the capacity to replace jobs, but we believe that increased investments in technology and skills development are necessary to adapt to these changes,” says Ying Cong Seah, Head of Labs and Co-Founder of Glints, an online platform for career discovery and development.
While there are signs in the market about the impact of ChatGPT innovation, with professional AI prompters offering their services on platforms like Upwork, Seah does not think AI will completely take over our jobs.
“Although AI may eliminate certain job categories, it will also generate new jobs, boosting productivity and driving economic growth. So, it’s not all negative. In fact, the recent interest in ChatGPT has prompted many individuals to consider how their job roles might evolve. We are already witnessing innovative uses of ChatGPT,” he explains.
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As an illustration, Seah mentions that content marketers are using ChatGPT to overcome writer’s block, brainstorm ideas for engineering design choices, and structure performance reviews. Inevitably, lower-value conversational and creative tasks are likely to be replaced in the near future, with more valuable work relying on generative AI as a collaborative partner.
Supporting this perspective, Abhinav Charan, Head of Partnerships & Business Development at skuad.io, a talent platform based in Singapore, acknowledges the concerns surrounding layoffs and the rise of ChatGPT. There is a fear that AI-powered systems could replace numerous job roles, especially those requiring creativity in an office setup, such as writers, marketers, developers, and customer service representatives.
“However, it seems unlikely that AI will surpass humans in contextual understanding anytime soon. AI is not a job terminator. People need to embrace digital and intelligent technologies and leverage them to enhance their performance in their roles,” Charan argues.
While Southeast Asia is experiencing an increase in layoffs, white-collar jobs are taking the hardest hit. On the other hand, the demand for blue-collar and frontline workers in the SEA region remains strong. Economic uncertainties have led companies to prioritize managed workforce solutions, creating a high demand for the workforce and services provided.
According to Siddharth Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of MyRobin, an on-demand platform for pre-screened blue-collar workers owned by Betterplace, the demand for blue-collar workers will persist despite the advent of AI solutions. “AI is currently replacing jobs that are not customer-centric. The frontline workforce industry is customer-focused, and AI does not seem to disrupt these roles significantly at this stage,” he notes.
Kumar emphasizes that AI is more likely to optimize the operations of the frontline workforce and make processes more cost-effective, rather than replacing these jobs. He compares the trend in the SEA workforce to that in India, highlighting that the frontline workforce market is expanding despite layoffs in white-collar sectors.
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“I believe AI cannot take anything away from us, let alone our jobs,” says Dhaval Thanki, VP (APAC & MEA) at LogiNext, a tech company providing SaaS-based delivery automation solutions. He asserts that AI is transformative and is reshaping our lives, work, and experiences for the better.
“As long as we can adapt and evolve, we can leverage AI to advance as individuals and professionals. The fear of AI displacing jobs stems from the misconception that technology will replace humans, which historically has not been the case; technology has always been an enabler of human progress,” Thanki explains.
Thanki predicts that AI will eliminate monotonous and risky jobs, necessitating people to upskill themselves to capitalize on the new opportunities AI will create. These new roles will better utilize human skills across various fields of activity.
For instance, AI-powered robots on assembly lines are making traditional assembly line jobs redundant in industries like automotive. However, these workers are transitioning to roles such as managing robotic process automation software, leveraging their cognitive abilities to increase production efficiency through AI and robotics.
“Therefore, AI will replace mundane and hazardous jobs, requiring individuals to enhance their skills to take advantage of the new opportunities AI will bring. These new roles will better align with human capabilities across various sectors,” Thanki concludes.
With the right investments in technology and skills development, Southeast Asia has the potential to not just survive but thrive in the era of AI-driven innovation and economic growth. However, an Accenture study revealed that less than half of companies in SEA have a clear plan for reskilling and upskilling their workforce.
“It is crucial for individuals, organizations, and governments in SEA to comprehend the potential implications of AI and take proactive measures to reskill and upskill their workforce. The future of work in an AI-centric world will necessitate a blend of human skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and empathy, along with a readiness to adapt and embrace change,” suggests Seah from Glints.
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This article was originally published on February 17, 2023
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