Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to become an integral part of organisation, with a major role to play in transforming a number of sectors.
This is according to S&P Global’s latest edition of its proprietary Look Forward research series, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the complexity of AI and its transformative impact on the labour market, energy sector and society.
“AI is undeniably accelerating progress and driving transformative change across various sectors,” says Swamy Kocherlakota, executive vice-president and chief digital solutions officer at S&P Global. “This edition of the Look Forward Journal leverages S&P Global’s expertise and rich data sets to explore how it disrupts and reimagines labour markets, the energy sector, and society at large. With these insights, companies, governments and other institutions can strategically navigate these transitions, and effectively shape and power the future of global markets.”
Key findings from the Look Forward: AI research include:
AI and labour: Change is inevitable, but human capabilities remain essential
Over time, AI’s impact on labor will become increasingly evident through improved efficiency and productivity, creation of new roles, transformative human-AI collaboration, autonomous systems, and labour redistribution and reskilling.
AI’s integration with labour will occur in distinct phases over short-, medium-, and long-term time frames, each presenting unique challenges and ethical considerations alongside the technology’s benefits.
AI and energy: The big picture
Rapid expansion of datacentres to meet growing demand for cloud and AI services is a factor that will strain the US power sector’s infrastructure in the coming years.
While much focus has been on datacenter electricity demand, datacenters globally are expected to support a growing portion of the digital economy and reshape historical electricity consumption patterns more broadly, with clean energy expected to supply a large share of incremental datacentre demand in the long term.
AI and society: Implications for global equality and quality of life
AI will fundamentally alter societies by transforming creative processes, education and business through its ability to replicate humanlike cognitive capabilities.
AI can also improve quality of life by materially improving access to and the quality of essential goods and services, including healthcare, education and food, though its implementation requires a delicate balance of risk and opportunities.