How artificial intelligence could fundamentally change certain types of work
New York City — Since he started using artificial intelligence, copywriter Guillermo Rubio estimates his productivity has increased by as much as 20%.
"It just makes certain things go a bit faster, like research or brainstorming ideas," Rubio told CBS News. "It's really useful for coming up with those things. Not necessarily writing them, but just generating the ideas when you're stuck."
That innovation also means change. A report released by Goldman Sachs in March found that AI services could automate as many as 300 million full-time jobs worldwide. Many are calling it a new age in the way we work.
"It's very powerful," said Daniel Keum, an assistant professor of management at Columbia Business School. "AI is able to actually outperform us in learning and adapting. So that we have not seen before in any technologies."
Keum believes the impact of AI will stretch across industries. The issue has already taken center stage in Hollywood, where Writers Guild of America members went on strike this week for the first time in 16 years. Among the demands from the more than 11,000 WGA writers to the studios is a ban on the use of AI to create feature and television scripts.
"These more very physical and labor-intensive jobs won't be replaced," Keum said. "But I think ... thinking, analytical, creative skills, these things are actually most exposed to AI at the moment."
The spike in the popularity of AI has raised alarm among some in the tech world, who say that there are ethical issues that still need to be fleshed out. In March, a group of about 1,000 tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, signed a letter calling for a pause on AI development because they believe it poses "profound risks to society and humanity."
"ChatGPT came on the scene in November, and it's been like a wildfire ever since," said Margaret Lilani, vice president of talent solutions at the job search site Upwork.
"You have to be smart about it and really look at it as this opportunity," Lilani added. "It is not an 'or' between ChatGPT and humans. It's an 'and.' And when you combine those two together and really harness that potential of utilizing technology to increase your productivity, and really showcase your creativity, it's going to take you that much further."
That is a mindset that Rubio has embraced, saying it's not just about adapting in order to survive.
"Survive and even thrive, I would say," Rubio said.
