How do modern technologies affect labor market and what problems can they create? Interview with Professor Heungchong  Kim

Modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, which has been actively developing in recent years, have a huge impact on all areas of our lives, and the labor market is no exception. What new opportunities do these technologies open up? What problems and challenges do they create? How, ultimately, do they affect the global economy? NEWS.am Tech talked about all this with Heungchong Kim, distinguished professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University.

New opportunities and challenges

Technological innovations and AI can, according to the professor, significantly increase the productivity of people working in many areas. And this will certainly have a positive effect on the performance of the companies where these people work, and even on the economic growth of the countries where these companies operate.

Another important advantage of modern technologies concerns the life and work of a huge number of people: almost everyone now has a personal “secretary” at hand in the form of neural networks like ChatGPT, which you can ask about anything – and quickly get an answer. Thus, to obtain basic knowledge about anything, you no longer need to rely on people – AI can provide almost any information, moreover, for free.

Against the backdrop of technological developments, so-called non-traditional employment is beginning to prevail over traditional employment: more and more people prefer to work remotely rather than in offices. And this in itself creates both opportunities (for both companies and employees) and a whole range of challenges.

Thus, flexible remote work schedules can cause workers to experience a kind of isolation – and working alone, lack of communication can negatively affect their mental health and well-being. In addition, the lack of a clear work schedule can sometimes seem like a plus, but on the other hand, such people often feel constant pressure related to working all the time, including on weekends.

In addition, remote work can hinder professional development and career advancement. And such work, especially if it is freelancing, sometimes cannot provide a stable salary. Moreover, freelancers are deprived of many social and legal protections that companies usually provide to employees working in the office.

Will the gap between rich and poor widen?

In addition to all the problems listed above, the development and spread of modern technologies may create another, much less obvious one: the situation with economic inequality in the world will worsen, and the gap between rich and poor will become even wider.

As Heungchong Kim noted, with technology advancing, many middle-income jobs could simply disappear, and the results could be very, very serious.

"It's not even about half of the people getting richer and half getting poorer. About 5% of people will become super-rich, and the remaining 95% will become poorer due to job loss, because technology can lead to the disappearance of many jobs that employed not only unskilled, but also semi-skilled and even highly skilled specialists. That's why new technologies are so dangerous," the expert said.

What to do?

As non-traditional employment becomes more popular, governments must direct their policies to address the challenges posed by this trend, Heungchong Kim noted.

Companies, according to experts, can come up with various ways to solve issues related to the mental health of employees working remotely. For example, they can introduce a rule according to which all co-workers should get together once a week and discuss something. Of course, this is not applicable in all companies and not in all cases, but in some it may turn out to be a pretty good solution. Moreover, during such meetings, employees can share new ideas with each other, suggest new solutions that will be useful for the company. This, as the expert noted, is very important, in particular, for technology companies.

Issues related to income and protection of the rights of employees working remotely will also require serious decisions.

As for the problem of economic inequality and the disappearance of many jobs, according to the specialist, we need to think now about conducting training for people who may lose their jobs in the future: they need help to master new knowledge and obtain new qualifications, to become experts in other, more relevant areas.

Heungchong Kim himself is quite positive about this issue. According to him, if one looks back at history, one can remember that in the 19th and 20th centuries, and even at the beginning of the 21st, many jobs and specialties did disappear. But new ones appeared in their place. And now, in the era of AI, they are also appearing.

“We must think about how the role of governments should change in today’s reality: future governments should, first of all, focus on protecting people, including from the negative consequences of modern technologies,” the specialist noted.

Heungcheong Kim is one of the invited guests and participants of the Yerevan Dialogue international forum. He took part in the panel discussion on the topic “The Future of Work: Paycheck, Protections, and Purpose.”