LinkedIn's report chronicles global shift towards AI in the workplace

LinkedIn reports a rapidly increasing focus on AI in its job listings, implying that businesses are already relying on technologies like ChatGPT for daily tasks.

The employment-focused social media platform has released its quarterly Future of Work Report, centering on AI-assisted technologies.

Since April, the number of posts containing general artificial intelligence (GAI) keywords in the US has increased by 25%. Globally, LinkedIn has observed a 75% monthly rise in the addition of keywords such as GAI, ChatGPT, and prompt engineering since the beginning of the year.

“While AI is not new, the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 led to a meteoric rise of interest in and conversation around AI, and more specifically in GAI on LinkedIn. Job postings referencing new AI technologies also are climbing rapidly,” LinkedIn noted.

The skills section on LinkedIn members' profiles also hints at the rapidly expanding role of AI in the workplace. Last year, the five fastest-growing AI skills added to profiles were as follows:

• Question answering

• Classification

• Recommender systems

• Computer vision

• Natural language processing

People worldwide are incorporating AI-related skills into their profiles. Since January 2016, the pool of AI-skilled LinkedIn members across 25 countries has multiplied by eight. LinkedIn asserts that AI adoption extends beyond the tech sector, as workers in fields like retail, education, and financial services are also adding AI skills to their profiles.

“The uptick in members’ skills, employers’ job postings, and platform conversations indicates that competition is intensifying to hire talent to fill specialized AI roles. Since many of these roles are brand new and no existing degree completely satisfies the role, filling them will require an increased emphasis on hiring for skills,” LinkedIn said.

Over the last five years, the number of LinkedIn members in the US with roles such as "Head of AI" has tripled.

Employers are embracing AI technologies because they believe, as per the report, that AI can boost productivity and, consequently, revenue. GAI tools have the potential to lighten workloads and aid professionals in handling mundane tasks. LinkedIn has analyzed some of the most prevalent occupations on the platform and speculated on how AI-assisted technology could benefit these professionals.

According to the analysis, teachers and software developers are among the professions where numerous skills could be enhanced by GAI, enabling talents to focus on what truly matters and resulting in increased productivity.