“Generative AI is really good at replicating entry-level positions. Tasks like data analysis, preparing PowerPoint presentations and simple research can be done by AI. Big employers, especially in areas like financial services, are shifting away from these entry-level positions because they’re so easy to replicate now.”
Lukas believes we need to prepare for all eventualities: “Is it an opportunity or a threat? I think it’s both.”
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Those in the thick of the job hunt are struggling to see the opportunities. Akky, a recent graduate from Leicester who’s looking for a job in finance, has applied for more than 200 jobs in five months but is yet to secure a role. She believes AI is taking early stage jobs in her sector. “A lot of my job can be automated, so AI can take over. As long as there’s other opportunities for humans to give their input, it’s OK, but there’s not as many of those roles.”
It’s not just Akky. Many of her friends and university course mates have struggled to get jobs too. “I know people who’ve been unemployed for two or three years, and as the years go on there’s fewer graduate jobs being opened, so it’s a really competitive playing field. That’s fine, any career is going to be competitive. The issue is when people can’t get any sort of job at all. I recently applied for a job that didn’t require a degree and I even got rejected from that.”
With AI devouring roles by the day, the economic threat it poses has become obvious, but the transformation could have just as monumental an impact on our politics as our finances.
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Historically, graduates have always been better off than other groups, with little driving them to the political extremes, but support for radical parties has been steadily growing among the young middle classes as more have struggled to find well-paid employment.
One in five 18- to 24-year-olds say they’d prefer an authoritarian leader to democracy, and Reform UK regularly tops opinion polls. An economic shock caused by AI could throw fuel on this fire, making the graduate classes angrier and the political climate more febrile.
“I think you can see some of that on the alt-right already,” says Ben Ansell, professor of comparative democratic institutions at the University of Oxford.
“There’s a group who feel that they should be the high earners in society, but they’re struggling to get onto that ladder and they’re lashing out. They could lash out at technology, but they don’t seem to do that. They lash out more at immigrants or people who they believe have had advantages because of diversity initiatives. The absence of opportunity is the match which starts the fire.”
So are we about to see a middle-class revolt, as AI causes more economic uncertainty? Ansell is sceptical that it has made sufficient impact on enough people’s lives yet.
“The UK is struggling as it’s had no real sustained growth for coming up to two decades, and I think that’s ultimately the challenge. Is it a tinderbox now? I think you could have made that argument at almost any point in the last 10 or 15 years on economic terms.”
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Many young people are done with politicians altogether, including Akky.
“I’ve lost faith in the economy and the government because they’ve done absolutely nothing to support graduates after university. I don’t really care about voting as much any more. There’s a massive gap at the moment. They’re not actually understanding what problems we’re facing and what we want.”
Extremism and apathy may be polar opposites, but both could be reduced by the same thing: supporting young people into employment and making them better off, which would help to restore their faith in the system.
“Until there’s a reduction of the cost of living for young people, which means housing, and a change in the dependency ratio [the number of people in work versus not in work] it’s hard to see how everything adds up,” says Ansell.
Lukas agrees that keeping young people economically active is crucial. With so much change happening, embracing AI is the only way for both employers and employees to prosper.
“It’s all about training, communication, creating an environment where everybody feels enabled to use these tools. The expectations on my students are now so much higher because of what you can do with AI in seconds.”
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