Will ChatGPT replace you? Sales guys think so, economists don't

Finance sector employees also don't see their jobs being at risk: MLIV Pulse survey

Advanced artificial intelligence systems stand to threaten jobs primarily in the financial, legal and technology sectors, according to the latest MLIV Pulse survey.

What's more striking about the results?

More than two-thirds of 292 respondents went on to say they didn't view their own jobs as being at risk anytime soon, even as they work predominantly in the financial sector.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been in development in some form for decades. But in recent months a surge of interest in so-called generative AI — most notably OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E products — sparked widespread excitement among investors who believe it could also generate massive financial rewards.

MLIV Pulse survey participants were split almost evenly on whether these kinds of technologies were worth investing in. 

There was an evident lack of professional use of any kind of artificial intelligence from majority of investors, with only 12 per cent saying they used one and just 27 per cent saying they planned to. More than half of all respondents said they aren’t even considering using AI to help them invest.

This contrasts starkly with recent rallies seen in the market for companies connected to advanced AI, in part fueled by the widespread publicity of ChatGPT and Microsoft Corp.’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI, its developer. Companies such as BuzzFeed Inc., C3.ai Inc., SoundHound AI Inc., and BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. are among the stocks that have all seen massive jumps in volume, along with dizzying swings in their share prices.

Businesses and investors are in a race to become go-to names for technology that can create media such as text and pictures from simple prompts — or hold human-like conversations on a wide variety of topics, from whether a cat would win a fight with an eagle, to practical considerations about world events or school projects. 

Microsoft is up against the likes of Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in working to offer the smartest AI tools to the greatest number of people.

Still, the promise of tools like ChatGPT leaves room for some investors to desire, with only 49 per cent of respondents saying they planned to buy stocks with exposure to such generative AI tools.

Overall, about 41 per cent of all respondents said they intended to increase exposure to tech stocks more broadly, while 38 per cent said they’d hold steady over the next six months.