Experience Stern | Faculty & Research

Recently, the CEO of a prominent bank phoned me to discuss the promise of generative AI. We initially worked through scenarios to improve fraud detection and customer service, but with the ongoing spate of recent announcements, it was clear he had grander ambitions in mind. Like many industries, banking has a workforce problem: There is a discrepancy between the demand for skilled personnel and the supply of workers who are willing to return to an office and play by pre-Covid rules.

Generative AI, he thought, might be a silver bullet of sorts. It could create cost savings and efficiencies through automation, but might these new tools also solve the talent shortage issue? To put it plainly: How soon could AI replace human workers?

Our conversation echoed many I’ve had since last November with executives across an array of businesses, including insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and even executives leading Hollywood studios, whose writers and actors are currently on strike. They all want to know how their companies can create more value using fewer human resources. That’s because last fall, ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, suddenly went viral, demonstrating the power of AI to generate its own emails, essays, recipes, financial reports, articles, and ideas. Goldman Sachs estimates that within the decade, 300 million jobs will either be eliminated or largely diminished by generative AI.

Read full Harvard Business Review article.
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Amy Webb is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU Stern School of Business.