Are you prepared for the GenAI wave? The data says ‘no’

There are some concerning stats emerging around machine learning and AI. Concerning for humans, that is.  

According to the latest research from RMIT Online, 73% of Australian workers don’t think GenAI is relevant to their role, despite data showing that 86% of occupations will be affected by this new technology. There’s a disconnect there, between the clear power and potential of AI and our willingness to accept it.  

The numbers suggest that Australia isn’t really prepared for what’s coming next: both emotionally and professionally. 47% of employees have never used AI in a professional capacity, and most of them say that’s because they just don’t feel AI is relevant. This seems to backup previous Deloitte research, which found that only 5% of Australian businesses are fully prepared to deploy and leverage artificial intelligence.  

Some of this might have to do with speed. OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, and the sky hasn’t fallen yet – despite one third of business leaders admitting to replacing human workers with AI in 2023. And the truth is, yes, you’re probably not going to lose your job to AI in the short term. What’s more likely right now is that you’ll lose your job to a candidate that understands AI better than you, and perhaps that’s the real danger emerging. There’s a class of professionals with the necessary tech skills, and then everyone else. And when it comes time to interview, which camp do you want to be in?  

What Cola’s getting at is that, according to the latest analysis, we’re going to need 1.8 million new tech skills by 2030 if workers are going to keep up with emerging industry changes. And it doesn’t seem we’re learning fast enough. Between 29% and 36% of employees say they’re lacking fundamental digital skills, or that their skills are out of date, and employers have already flagged AI and machine learning as the number one skill deficiency within their organisation (closely followed by data science, coding and cyber security).  

So, are we doing anything about all this? Well, the federal government announced its $17 million AI Adopt Program in 2023, which includes funding for five AI training centres around the country. Australian large and medium businesses are set to invest $8 billion in learning and development in 2024. And that’s certainly a good start.  

Unfortunately, when you compare us to the international community, we’re starting to lag behind on training. 32% of Australians participated in non-formal learning last year, compared to 47% in the European Union. In fact, out of 32 countries surveyed by the EU, we rank 24th when it comes to adult education rates. Yikes.  

“The digital skills gap Australia is experiencing has been further exacerbated by the emergence of critical technologies such as AI,” Cola says, “and we must not be complacent in our attitudes to reskilling and upskilling if we are to keep pace with our international counterparts.” 

So how can we flip this narrative? Well, maybe the solution to learning about AI is – pause for effect – AI itself. Generative AI can create targeted training content for employees much faster than humans can. And this could be crucial for the industries facing a looming ‘short fuse, big bang’ scenario, like financial services, ICT and media, professional services, education and wholesale trade. 

All this sounds a bit like digging ourselves out of a hole with the very shovel that got us down here. But what else can industry do? The stats don’t lie: if we’re going to remain competitive on a global stage, we need to upskill, and fast. Perhaps GenAI is the tool that will help us get there. Either way, artificially intelligence has arrived. It’s time to pull our collective heads out of the sand.