Who Will AI Help (& Harm) In the Manufacturing Sector?

The OECD Employment Outlook 2023 focuses on one of the biggest catalysts for change of our time: artificial intelligence.

It’s no secret that AI is likely to have a significant impact on the labor market, although the exact extent is yet unknown. According to the OECD report, since it is a “general purpose technology”, nearly every sector and occupation will be affected. And while the adoption of AI is likely to improve job quality for some groups, it could also worsen it for others.

Researchers collected data through a series of surveys, including a poll of some 1,400 manufacturing employers across the United States, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom in early 2022. One of the polled questions asked employers which groups they thought would be most impacted by the adoption of new technologies.

As the following chart shows, in the world of manufacturing at least, employers also tended to believe that older and lower-skilled workers could face some harm from the new technologies in the coming years, since AI systems could be harder to use for those with lower levels of digital skills.

However, employers also tended to think that workers with disabilities could be helped by AI in the future. Reasons for this included the fact that AI-powered assistive devices are becoming more widespread and will be able to aid workers with visual, speech or hearing impairments, as well as the fact that AI can improve the performance of non-native speakers through translation of both written and spoken word in real time.