Gen AI between new professions and skills: the light and shadow scenario as seen by Italian under-35s

Great opportunities, no doubt. But also great challenges to be faced in order to properly manage the impacts of Gen AI on processes and organisation. The creation and development of new skills by those who already work in companies and those who have yet to enter the labour market is one of the 'hot' topics related to Gen AI: continuous learning, reskiling and upskiling, the evolution of the human-machine relationship, new ways of interaction between chatbots and individuals are some of the voices fuelling the discussion on the effects of the application and diffusion of the new algorithm technology in companies.

A new survey conducted jointly by Microsoft (which in the past year has trained and certified over 7,000 people on new artificial intelligence technologies in collaboration with its ecosystem of partners) and SWG on a significant sample of under-35s has tried to shed light on the dynamics characterising their adoption in Italy, focusing in particular on the repercussions in the workplace. The study in fact took a snapshot of the perception, level of knowledge and awareness of the benefits linked to the use of AI, and confirmed first of all how it favours (on the one hand) the creation of new professionalism, increasing the demand for specialists, and contributes (on the other) to supporting the activities of professionals at all levels, freeing up their time and increasing their productivity.

Looking at the data collected, it emerges that 81% of young people have a general idea of what artificial intelligence is, but only 27% confirm that they are familiar with it. In general, as the authors of the study explain, imagination tends to prevail over a real awareness of the phenomenon, and this is a clear sign of how crucial it is to make training activities on this subject increasingly widespread. While 46% of the sample identifies AI as a technology capable of managing a large amount of information, 30% associate it with a system 'capable' of replicating human intelligence (rather than a technology with specific functionalities), while 35% believe in the hypothesis of an authoritarian drift of machines to the detriment of the centrality of the human being. The fears towards the ungoverned development of technology, needless to deny it, are there and this is confirmed by the fact that 41% of respondents say they are concerned about this. The familiarity with digital of the under-35s, on the other hand, makes them more optimistic, with 57% judging the development of AI positively as long as it is kept under control.

The young Italians taking part in the survey thus give a very interesting assessment of technology in terms of the contribution it can make to people's well-being at work. If almost half of the sample is of the opinion that, thanks to AI, we will be more productive, efficient and competent, a similar percentage remains sceptical about the actual possibility that the increased level of well-being can redistribute itself and favour the reduction of inequalities. And again: while one out of two young people attribute to technology the ability to decrease work rhythms and workloads in the future and recognise the potential of AI to relieve us from the most boring and alienating tasks, at the same time they fear that it could also replace us in the creative phase of our profession. More than half of the sample, finally, is convinced that artificial intelligence will stimulate flexibility and promote work-life balance: the improvement in work productivity enabled by chatbots and algorithms, in other words, will allow us to optimise private life time and gain free time. Lights and shadows, in short, also because what prevails among young people, on the whole, is the feeling that the new jobs generated by the spread of AI will not be enough to fill the 'old' jobs that are likely to be lost, for a final negative balance.

The Italian scenario, moreover, is mirrored in a global context that still reflects a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the issue of generative AI and, in particular, what the consequences might be in the professional sphere. According to the latest Microsoft Work Trend Index, for example, 76% of respondents say they feel the need to equip themselves with specific skills in the use of artificial intelligence to remain competitive in the labour market, while 79% are of the opinion that skills in this technology will expand their job opportunities.