With artificial intelligence 218,000 employees at risk

The development prospects of artificial intelligence divide the vast world of civil servants in two. An important share, consisting of 1.8 million people representing 57% of the Italian civil service, will be helped by this technology in the performance and enrichment of their work. But a not marginal slice, some 218,000 people, meaning 12 out of every 100 employees, will be able to be completely replaced in their duties, and thus risk having their jobs stolen by the Ai. Or, more likely, to see themselves replaced by a computer upon their retirement.

To the first group belong those who do more content-rich and creative work, ranging from managers to teachers, from researchers to civil servants in management roles to architects, engineers and healthcare professionals. The second is made up of the less specialised roles, who are assigned repetitive and predictable tasks that can very soon be performed in a semi-automated manner.

The results of the survey presented by Fpa on the opening day of Forum Pa 2024 at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome (the event closes on 23 May) well illustrate the many implications that will soon become apparent with the widespread application of artificial intelligence techniques. They are economic implications, because they promise to increase the productivity and content richness of many public jobs, but also social ones; because even in the PA, as in the private sector, Ai appears destined to condemn to obsolescence those jobs that are poorer in creative content.

The peculiarity of employment relationships in the civil service promises to make the transition less traumatic, but in perspective it will profoundly change the geography of opportunities for new hires. "The impact in the Pa will be strong in both qualitative and numerical terms and will gradually intensify with the progress of AI solutions," says Gianni Dominici, CEO of Fpa. And such a horizon calls for "a structural reform of the Pa," according to Fpa chairman Carlo Mochi Sismondi, who emphasises the need for "a review of training processes, oriented towards the development of skills such as creativity, adaptability, critical and lateral thinking, and soft skills".