00:00Artificial intelligence is transforming workplaces across the UK, but new research suggests it's
00:07costing more jobs than it's creating. British firms report net job losses linked to AI over
00:12the past 12 months at a higher rate than other major economies. The findings suggest the UK
00:17workforce may be feeling the impact of automation faster and more sharply than rivals. It comes at
00:23a time when the job market is already under strain. AI, as we know, covers a multitude of
00:29sins. But in effect, it's about sort of supercomputing power. And there is the so-called Moore's
00:35law, which says that computer power doubles every two years. And we're seeing the consequences
00:40of that. Computers can now do a lot more than they obviously once did. And of course, it's
00:46about the intelligence that's sort of vested in that. So of course, you can have a computer
00:52that can easily do the sort of the work of a human being.
00:55The research by Morgan Stanley shows British businesses reporting an 8% net drop in jobs
01:01as a result of artificial intelligence. That compares unfavourably with countries such as
01:07the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia. The study surveyed firms that have been using
01:12AI for at least a year across sectors, including retail, transport, healthcare equipment and
01:18cars. It suggests the UK is cutting roles faster than its competitors.
01:22This has been going on for a long time, because quite clearly, we had robotics in manufacturing.
01:28And if you go into a modern factory, you will see the sort of same rate of production, probably
01:32more in fact, because of course, these things can all the production lines with robotics can
01:37run 24 hours a day. So we had the sort of the mass exodus of sort of workers from manufacturing
01:43in the 1980s. What is now happening is that sort of AI will replace white collar workers as
01:50opposed to blue collar workers. Despite the job losses, UK firms reported an average
01:5511.5% boost in productivity from AI, similar to the US, where companies created more jobs
02:01than they cut. We're in a sort of revolution. And the sort of the real challenge for sort of
02:05for policymakers is how to replace those lost jobs with decent jobs, which of course will pay well.
02:12And indeed, I sort of refer to a sort of a recent report, which actually looks at the sort of the
02:16amount of disposal income we have. And of course, replacing sort of jobs with sort of zero hour
02:22contracts is not the sort of way forward, particularly for a younger generation who hope to have
02:26aspirations of owning their own house and families and so on.
02:29The findings come as unemployment in the UK reaches a four year high. Rising minimum wage costs and higher
02:36employer national insurance contributions are already squeezing hiring. A separate survey by recruitment
02:41firm Randstad found more than a quarter of workers fear their jobs could vanish completely within the
02:47next five years due to AI. Anxiety is highest among younger workers entering the job market.
02:53The fact that unemployment is starting to increase and really hit the so-called Gen Z is no surprise.
03:00The real difficulty is what's going to replace it in exactly the same way as coming back to manufacturing
03:05in many places in the country where traditional sort of trades and traditional sort of industries
03:10disappeared. Water has come in its place, retaining perhaps. And of course, what that has led to
03:16are delivery vans. But of course, the future is that even that might be replaced by some form of
03:22autonomous sort of vehicle.
03:23Morgan Stanley says firms are most likely to cut early career roles, while younger workers
03:28are far more concerned about adapting to artificial intelligence than older generations.
03:33Undoubtedly, computers have sort of done so much for us. And of course,
03:36they become so integral in our lives and it gives us freedom. It's very difficult to see because,
03:40of course, the employment prospects are decreasing and AI is not going to, certainly at present
03:49views, make that any better. Political and business leaders are warning
03:53action is needed to prevent large scale job losses and to ensure new roles replace those lost to
03:59technology. JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has cautioned that failing to support displaced workers could lead to
04:05civil unrest. As AI adoption accelerates, the challenge now is whether new jobs can be created quickly
04:11enough to keep pace.
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