GPTs are GPTs: An early look at the labor market impact potential of large language models

A.I's impact on the labor market is without historical precedent.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Hey Everyone, welcome back!

Many analysts usually compare this wave of A.I., automation, robots and Generative AI’s impact on the labor market to historical precedents of narrowly defined progress on jobs and society. But what happens when the movement is ubiquitous and is likely to hit both white collar, blue collar and pink collar (service) jobs in the next two decades?

I’m talking in the 2030 to 2050 period? It won’t actually be very much like anything we’ve seen before.

The term automation was coined in the automobile industry about 1946 to describe the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanized production lines. A lot has changed in the last 80 years.

Throughout the history of automation, the emergence of newer techniques, processes and machines eventually shaped a path for automation to play a larger role in our society.

But what if Generative A.I. allows software to chain together actions and robots to “come alive”?

OpenAI Research Says 80% of U.S. Workers' Jobs Will Be Impacted by GPT

I don’t believe it’s just GPT to be clear, I think a variety of automation from no-code to smarter robots are on the way. That being said, as large language models like OpenAI's GPT-4 become more advanced and able to write, code, and do math with more accuracy and consistency, it won’t be long before AI makes its way into the workplace as a daily-use tool.

A GPT is a general purpose technology. And everything from smarter software to general purpose robots on their way. People really don’t understand what exponential and ubiquitous automation will look or feel like.

For this to occur in the next twenty five years is actually rather fast.

Generative A.I., RPA (robotic process automation), robotics and others related trends happen to converge with a totally different impact of A.I. on white collar aspects of our jobs in the years ahead.

So let’s get into it, let’s talk about OpenAI’s own study on its impact on the labor market.