BEIS publishes report on potential impact of AI on UK employment

Article summary

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published a report assessing the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on UK employment and the demand for skills. The report focuses on whether AI and related technologies will trigger significant structural change within the labour market, and how large the disruption from AI will be to labour markets questioning the form this may take. With substantial progression in the technical capabilities of AI, the BEIS report outlines how resulting increases in productivity and innovation have potential to boost UK GDP up to 10% by 2030. In addition, this report acknowledges concerns surrounding AI displacing human workers from jobs, and estimates 18% of existing UK jobs could be displaced over the forthcoming decade. Notably, the report sets out that demand for skills within administration, finance and customer support may experience net decreases over time with tasks become increasingly automated.