Drama and personalities aside, part of the controversy surrounding Open AI and its board and management resulted from the discovery of the emergence of Artificial Super Intelligence (AGI). This is according to recent news reports. AGI is simply defined as the ability of AI systems to become self-aware and surpass human cognitive abilities. ChatGPT, since becoming ubiquitous in 2022, remains the most visible representation of the AI revolution. However, within the last 12 months, numerous companies have burst onto the scene, receiving billions in funding. ChatGPT moved from being a neat party trick to permeating almost every element of society, where some see it as a godsend with obvious and transformative benefits. For example, over 92% of Fortune 500 has implemented some form of ChatGPT. Others see it as an existential threat to humanity and society as witnessed by the Open AI board’s recent behavior. At any rate, AI continues to evolve, impacting how, where, and if we work. In this article, we provide a brief overview of AI and ChatGPT, their value, and the potential impact on the future global workforce. We also provide some ideas for key jobs in an era of AI, e.g., prompt engineering, and the value to individuals wishing to build business platforms as solopreneurs or entrepreneurs. Lastly, we discuss areas where companies are using AI to structure more cost-effective administrative functions.
What is ChatGPT?
So, what is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI. It stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer. Trained on a large dataset of text from the internet, it generates human-like text in response to a given prompt. It is used for various natural language processing tasks, such as language translation, question answering, and text completion. It is part of the broader proliferation of artificial intelligence or AI. AI is defined as intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by non-human animals and humans. Based on our first-hand experience with ChatGPT, the benefits are pretty obvious.
Open AI released ChatGPT, its free version, to the public in November of 2022. In March 2023, ChatGPT-4 was released as a subscription service offering more recent data, a more robust LLM, and a plugin to bring competition with numerous content providers across various market segments. Additionally, Microsoft, which invested several billion in Open AI has now integrated ChatGPT into its search engine Bing and many of its Office products. The integration and functionality have now been rebranded to Microsoft 365 Copilot, adding an enterprise solution.
While the release date for ChatGPT-5 has not been formally announced, rumors suggest 2024 or 2025.
Chasing AI Supremacy
Within the last 12-18 months, several AI startups and a significant amount of funding have entered the sector as founders and investors chasing leadership AI supremacy. In 2023 alone, over 7,000 companies in AI have emerged. Key areas of the AI tech stack ripe for investment remain:
- Generative AI Models
- Specific AI Models
- Hyperlocal AI Models
- Operating Systems and API Models
- Applications
Whether FOMO or a fundamental belief in the power of technology, investors have poured more than $23 billion into the AI space as of August 2023, bucking the dry spell for VC funding. More importantly, a recent research report by Goldman Sachs suggests that AI investment will approach $200 billion by 2025. On the heels of ChatGPT and Bing, Google launched its Bard. Anthropic, founded by former members of Open AI, released its Claude.ai assistant. Companies in sectors ranging from education to healthcare to content creation and automotive have embraced the benefits of AI. Major CRM players such as HubSpot, Freshworks, and Salesforce have recently launched AI assistants with ChatSpot, Freddy AI, and Eienstien.ai, respectively.
Top 5 Countries with the Most AI-Driven Companies
Newly Founded AI-Driven Companies
Source: coresignal
The United States remains the leading nation with the highest number of AI-driven companies. Consistent with its leadership in innovation and R&D, the US will continue to push the boundaries of AI development and use cases. In response to the uncertainty and concern about the direction of AI, the Biden administration, through executive order, announced a series of regulations for the sector.
AI and Jobs: Rise of the Prompt Engineer
According to McKinsey Global Institute, over 30% of all hours worked are at risk of being automated due to the growth in AI. As AI matures, we suspect this number will rise as companies continue to reduce overhead further and become lean and more competitive. However, the news is not all negative, as many see AI enhancing the work of professionals in STEM, legal, and creative professions, leading to an uptick in new positions. Deel, a global leader in workforce management, in its recent Global Hiring Summit, noted headwinds in global remote working but indicated a significant uptick in hiring related to AI and, in part, the role of prompt engineers. These roles and related roles will require core skills such as problem-solving, creativity, writing, and programming. To succeed in the new era of AI will require reskilling and new education models. According to the WEF 6 in 10 workers will require training before 2027 in its 2023 Future of Jobs Report.
Source: Visual Capitalist
The Benefits of ChatGPT for Solopreneurs?
Over 70 million workers classify themselves as part-time or full-time independent workers. For these solopreneurs, ChatGPT offers tremendous benefits. What is a solopreneur? A solopreneur is an individual who starts and runs their own business, typically working alone or with a small team. They generally are self-employed. They also take responsibility for all aspects of their business, including management, marketing, and finances. Many individuals who choose this path come from large corporations and see the benefits of running independent businesses. Some solopreneur benefits include flexibility and the ability to spend time with family. As a solopreneur, you run all aspects of your business management, marketing, and finances. For many older workers, the level of independence feels refreshing but can be a challenge for those coming from large corporations. Many large corporations have an equally sizeable administrative infrastructure to support your daily business activities—the advantage of the administrative infrastructure disappears once you decide to go solo.
Time-saving
One of the most apparent benefits of ChatGPT is time management. ChatGPT offers multiple benefits, including the automation of repetitive tasks and the ability to generate written content. For example, ChatGPT is now integrated with HubSpot through its ChatSpot application. The ChatSpot AI assistant significantly streamlines various areas like prospecting, marketing, email creation, and reporting. The use of AI is also working its way into talent management and global hiring across a range of activities, such as candidate screening, onboarding, etc. These innovations continue to save significant time for hiring managers and HR professionals, allowing them to reclaim their cognitive cycles.
Supercharging productivity
AI provides a major productivity boost, particularly benefiting content creators. For many content creators, the time to creation has diminished significantly and now represents a fraction of the prior time. AI use in areas such as image generation, script writing, video editing, etc., has become effortless with AI. ChatGPT improves the multitasking process for the solopreneur with the ability to handle multiple activities simultaneously. The recent integration of ChatGPT into Bing and Microsoft 365 products now offer can create more sophisticated promoting strategies to get more out of ChatGPT. Also, as APIs become more integrated into more universal productivity apps such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we expect a further boost to worker productivity.
Reduced Costs
A significant benefit of ChatGPT is eliminating the need for additional staff, particularly in the administrative function. In a recent interview, the CEO of IBM indicated that hiring for over 7,000 jobs will be paused due to AI. For many organizations, immediate benefits will come from cost reduction in HR and corporate admin. Every two workers will have up to 50% of their jobs impacted by ChatGPT. In some areas, the presence of AI potentially will remove the need for management to engage with admin functions frequently or not at all. There is still an ongoing debate on which level of the organizations will be most impacted, e.g., white collar versus blue collar. More senior or older professionals may have some discomfort with the technology. For the larger organizations, which tend to take on bloat as they scale, we envision scenarios where effectively harnessing ChatGPT and other AI solutions may arrest this problem.
The Fear of Chat GPT: Real or Hype
For now, it’s more hype than real. The uproar and concerns over Chat GPT are not unique. The use of AI raises many concerns in areas such as facial recognition and privacy. However, for the solopreneur or independent business professional, saving time, reducing costs, and increasing productivity benefits everyone. We see particular benefits of ChatGPT in those disciplines focused on independent platform development, e.g., financial services (financial advisors and insurance agents), consulting, product development, and creative professionals. Of course, comfort with technology is never uniform across individuals and cultures, and AI’s ubiquity has elicited different responses from different countries. In March 2023, Italy banned ChatGPT due to privacy concerns. Globally and among democratic states, the EU has been the most aggressive against AI. Nevertheless, it remains banned in several African and Small Island Development States. Will it mean organizations can thrive and create value with less headcount? Yes. Can we begin to reimagine or replace the corporate admin function with ChatGPT? Most likely, yes. Although it’s not entirely clear at the corporate admin level, who takes the hit as gatekeepers and confidants cannot be replaced by AI. We do think, however, that as the threat to jobs becomes more apparent, policymakers, no matter where, will become more aggressive.
The Future of ChatGPT
In conclusion, as AI solutions become more ubiquitous, they may give rise to the need for organizations to create coordination functions to manage suites of AI products entering the workplace. In today’s market for AI talent, Prompt Engineers remain the most in-demand role, commanding mid to high six-figure salaries. ChatGPT is now available in more than 190 countries, further supporting the product’s ubiquity. For those who become redundant because of ChatGPT, AI can help transform these employees into more productive knowledge workers. It’s clear that Chat GPT equalizes knowledge, improves productivity, and opens up a world of limitless possibilities across borders. However, the evolution of AGI is worth watching as its positives and perils remain unclear for the future of the corporate workforce.
For more information or to discuss the role of AI in your organization, get in touch with our team. Additionally, to learn more about managing an AI workforce for your organization reach out to our partner Deel to book a demo. For information of securing R&D tax credit for AI research, contact Boast to learn more
Disclosure: At ClearSky 2100, our portfolio partly consists of affiliate partnerships. We may earn a small commission from buying links on our site at no cost to you.
