The future of AI and ChatGPT in the workplace, and what the Dutch population thinks (study results + webinar expert facts)

Dear fellow communication science students,

As it is a hotly debated topic presently, I wish to exchange with you the outcomes of my survey research on perceptions and concerns of AI and ChatGPT in the Netherlands. The sample of 1504 respondents was quite representative of the Dutch population with an almost equal ratio of male to female as well as for age groups ranging from 18 to 65+. Interestingly, the majority had a high educational level which may suggest why they are familiar with the new technology (53% high, 37% middle, 10% low level). Additionally, 60% were employed while only 6% were students. Moreover, there were lots of percentages in the ‘neutral/don’t know’ scale option, thus further emphasising uncertainties about the implications of this new technology.

I will also complete it with insights from a seminar (Statista) I attended for work on the topic of their prospect implications on the job market.

While I understand that you may question its link to my internship in marketing research, I also know that you have already been snowed under with many mandatory statistical courses in our program. But ultimately, I do hope that this pushes you to consider marketing research by persuading you that surveys and statistics can get you information on any topic you desire.

Now enough beating around the bush. Here is how your future may take a turn.

More generally, the majority of our respondents (51%) feel uncomfortable at the idea of AI, and 40% fear that it would take control over mankind. They feel apprehensive that humans would grow lazy and become destitute of their social skills (43% contrasted to 34% who do not) and dread that they will be deprived of their privacy as a result of considerable AI surveillance (51%).

We also found that 64% of the Dutch population link ChatGPT to AI and believe it contributes to its development. An average of 60% of respondents think that its buzz will persist, pursue to acquire customers, and integrate more parts of society in the future, with 40% of respondents believing it yields objective, reliable, and up-to-date information. So it is remarkable to see that the percentage of people who would employ it more frequently in the future (29%) is not vastly elevated.

According to Enterprise Apps Today, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E are most conceivable to generate content and lesson plans and aid students in the education sector.

Luckily, 42% of our respondents do not expect that ChatGPT will imperil teachers’ jobs as opposed to 37% who do. However, our study yielded that the majority of respondents believe that students will lose their ability to write essays (70%), problem-solving skills (66%), creativity (64%), and their knowledge if they ask ChatGPT to explain concepts (54%). In fact, almost half of the respondents advocated for ChatGPT to be prohibited in schools with the implementation of AI detectors, and penalisation for students who get caught. It is thus to my surprise that 42% of students who use ChatGPT for school indicate that they have used it.

When it comes to work, the adoption of AI in businesses is anticipated to escalate with 75% of companies considering implementation in the upcoming five years (World Economic Forum). As for now, AI is predominantly incorporated in “high tech/telecoms sector for risk-related applications (38%), followed by consumer goods/retail service operations (31%) and financial services product and/or service development (31%)” (Stanford University; McKinsey & Company). Alas, we discovered that almost half of the Dutch population do not sense they profit from personalised advertisements on social media (contrary to 30% who do) and do not trust chatbot customer service (contrary to 26% who do).

“Photo and image generative AI” such as Midjourney is also believed to meld into the marketing and advertising industry with 37% of respondents agreeing (Fishbowl, 2023), which serves to lower the cost of production (currently valued at a minimum €40,000 per car brand advertisement for example) and staff (currently 30-50 employees minimum per ad). Stanford University also predicts greater implementation of AI in the following sectors as a result of US$27 billion of private investment in 2022: Healthcare (US$6.05 billion), Data management (US$5.86 billion), Fintech (US$5.52 billion), Cybersecurity (US$5.38 billion), Retail (US$4.20 billion) (view chart below for more information), and for good reason. Indeed, based on a survey of US companies by PWC, in 2022, the biggest AI firms were roughly twice as probable to perceive a boost in “productivity, decision making, customer experience, product and service information, [and] employee experience” due to that technology. Advantageously, Goldman Sachs (2023) reported that “AI could raise global annual leave labour productivity growth by 1.4 percentage points”. In fact, the World Economic Forum analysis foresees that in the next five years, 69 million new jobs will appear while 83 million jobs will rather fade. Clerical, administrative, and legal jobs (eg: “bank tellers”, “postal service clerks”, “data entry clerks”, “legislators”…) are more likely to be at risk in contrast to manual ones (view graph for more info). According to the World Economic Forum, recruiters are likely to be looking for “creative and analytical thinking skills” as well as “technological literacy” (WEF), “machine learning and deep learning knowledge skills” (CodinGame; CoderPad), meaning that the positions likely to expand are “ AI and machine learning specialist (…) sustainability specialists, business intelligence analyst, and information security analyst” (WEF).

Reassuringly, 57% of our respondents are not that fearful of ChatGPT replacing their jobs as opposed to 25% of respondents who are, and according to them, the most at-risk jobs are authors, software engineers, and financial jobs in that order. 38% believe that it could help them buy time at work and attend to more essential tasks, 32% think it could help them progress in their career, and 46% think it could help them analyse data. Moreover, when people use ChatGPT for work, they are not likely to feel guilty or less proud of their work (88%) and therefore are not afraid to share that they have used it (74%). Contradicting to the Morning Consult; SIT’s analysis, only 24% are worried that ChatGPT will store their work data.

Despite that half of businesses view cybersecurity as their main worry (McKinsey & Company), “94% of business leaders agree that AI is critical to the success and the coming five years” (Deloitte, 2022).

So brace yourself and adapt!

*Disclaimer: as these pieces of information are deducted from the Statista seminar I attended, I do not have access to the real sources, which are briefly mentioned by name and no link to include in a reference list. But it was deemed acceptable for a blog by my tutor.

The company I interned at: Mediaplus Serviceplan Netherlands B.V.