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CNN
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Corporate America is beginning to use artificial intelligence to replace human tasks.
More than half (61%) of large U.S. companies plan to use AI within the next year to leverage past experiences with employees, according to a survey of financial leaders released Thursday.
Those tasks include everything from paying vendors and invoicing to financial reporting, said a study by Duke University and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond.
That’s in addition to the creative tasks that some businesses already rely on ChatGPT and other AI chatbots to help them with, including creating job postings, writing press releases and building marketing campaigns.
These findings show that companies are turning to AI to reduce costs, increase profits and make their employees more productive.
“You can’t be running a new company without thinking about this technology. You’re in danger of being left out,” Duke economics professor John Graham, who led the study, told CNN in a phone interview.
The CFO Survey, a collaboration between Duke and Atlanta and the banks of the Richmond Fed, found that almost three companies (32%) – large or small – plan to use AI in the next year to complete the tasks that people do.
Some of this is already happening — especially among large companies with money to experiment with AI.
Almost 60% of all companies (and 84% of large companies) surveyed said that in the past year they have already relied on software, tools or technology including AI to perform tasks that employees previously did. The survey was conducted between May 13 and June 3.
Employers are turning to AI for a variety of reasons, including reducing the workload on employees.
The CFO survey found that companies say they are using automation to increase product quality (58% of companies); increase output (49%), reduce operating costs (47%) and replace employees (33%).
However, the good news for workers is that some experts do not believe that AI will lead to mass unemployment, at least not immediately.
Graham said: “I don’t think there will be much work this year. “In the near future, it’s going to be more about opening up some holes and maybe not hiring someone who would have otherwise — but not letting someone go. Partly that’s because this is new.”
Yet workers will feel the impact of AI adoption, if they haven’t already.
Graham said: “This would give people more time to focus on more important and rewarding things.”
Reid Hoffman, a billionaire entrepreneur and co-founder of LinkedIn, told CNN that AI could disrupt some jobs but not anytime soon.
“Years, not years, but years, not months,” Hoffman said, referring to when AI will replace humans. “I believe in three to five years, we will all have a pilot who will help us with everything from how we cook dinner … to doing your work and writing and so on.”
Hoffman, who last year wrote a book called “Impromptu: Enhancing Our Personality Through AI” with the help of ChatGPT-4, emphasized that for a few years he will be a pilot, not a pilot.
“I’m changing jobs. People’s jobs will be replaced – but they will be replaced by other people using AI,” he said. “The whole idea is to be the person using AI, learning it, doing it, making it happen.”
AI is inflation
Meanwhile, employers and workers are worried about the rising cost of living and inflation.
The CFO survey found that inflation is the No. 1 concern.
A majority of CFOs (57%) expect the value of their assets to increase this year faster than average.
However, there was a difference in the perception of inflation based on technology adoption. The survey found that companies that had used automation in the past 12 months expected slower price increases than those that had not.
Graham, the Duke professor, said AI could help slow inflation but he’s not optimistic it can help slow inflation right now.
He said: “It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a cure for next year.”
CFO research shows how companies are rapidly turning to AI – even as safeguards and controls are still connected.
The rapid adoption of AI in some industries such as finance has affected others.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a statement earlier this month that the use of AI by financial firms poses “great opportunities and great risks.”
A report issued last week by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the House Homeland Security and Government Committee, found the release of the rules “not enough” for how hedge funds are already using AI.
The report warned that “there are no laws or requirements” that dictate “when and if a person should participate in decision-making, including in relation to business decisions.”
Graham, the Duke professor, said it would be wise for companies in all industries to have risk management and mitigation strategies in place as they experiment with AI.
“There has been a rapid adoption of AI,” he said. “I believe it is being done with a grain of salt. There will be times when companies have embarrassing inventory or sales points because they move too fast. ”
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