Generative AI has the potential to impact 44% of all working hours across top industries, creating entirely new paths for reinventing enterprises, a new analysis detailed in Harvard Business Review concludes.
Accenture researchers analyzed the potential impact of large language models (LLMs) on how workers spend time on tasks across 19 major industries, weighted by their 2022 employment levels.
The largest opportunity lies in banking, the Accenture researchers note, finding that 72% of working hours can potentially be transformed by generative AI. In insurance, the impact is 68%; in capital markets, 67%. The found industries in the middle of the pack, such as retail, travel, health, and energy, the number of working hours that generative AI could potentially transform ranged from 40% to nearly 50%.
Overall, the study discovered impact in every category, ranging from 9% of a workday at the low end to 63% at the high end. In five of the 22 categories they examined, more than half of working hours can be transformed by LLMs.
“The potential is unprecedented—the technology not only transforms routine work, but brings the power of AI to creative and knowledge work, putting companies in position to achieve not only great gains in productivity, but also to create entirely new paths for enterprise reinvention,” the Accenture researchers note in the Harvard Business Review story.
They recommend companies be realistic about the challenges that come with “profoundly rethinking how the organization works,” investing as much in evolving operations and training workers as they do in technology.
“Radically rethinking how work gets done, and helping people keep up with technology-driven change, will be two of the most important factors in realizing the full potential of generative AI,” they write. “Nearly every job will be impacted—some will be eliminated, most will be transformed, and many new jobs will be created.”
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Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
