Industry News

Recently, the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College published its issue brief, Are the Careers of Older Workers Being Cut Short by AI? In the brief, CRR analyzes the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the future of work for those adults ages 55 and over. The brief indicates that although familiarity with AI is increasing, many older workers are concerned about job loss, displacement, and workplace disruption.

Some of the key findings include:

• Based on the level of AI exposure, the analysis examined the rates of job exits from before and after ChatGPT was launched in November 2022.
• Since AI can automate certain tasks, some workers with those job responsibilities may potentially be displaced.
• According to the results, there was an increase in job exits for those with high-exposure jobs (such as computer programmers, accountants and auditors) since the significant rise in AI usage.
• However, many high-exposure jobs still have lower exit rates compared to those in low-exposure jobs that require more physical work (such as nurses, home health aides and painters). 

The brief concludes, “The analysis suggests that the issue of AI-exposed jobs and older workers is worth keeping an eye on. The significant increase in exit from work threatens older workers in exposed jobs with shorter careers if they cannot find new work. As policymakers consider changes to Social Security that could necessitate longer careers, they should be aware that this new technology could be pushing some workers in the other direction.”

The brief is available here.