From left, Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs receives a souvenir jacket from Christopher Justice, chairman of the Ohio Valley Economic Roundtable, at the Marietta Country Club on Tuesday. Briggs addressed attendees about the potential economic impact of generative AI. (Photo by Kristen Heinkel)
MARIETTA — Generative artificial intelligence has the potential to automate up to 25% of a day's business tasks, Goldman Sachs senior economist Joseph Briggs said in a speech Tuesday at the Ohio Valley Economic Roundtable. Ta.
The estimates are based on a report compiled by Goldman Sachs in which researchers collected work data for more than 900 U.S. occupations and categorized them into 13 categories. We then assessed the likelihood that each task could be completed by the generative AI.
Briggs said the estimate does not equate to potential job losses.
“That in no way means that 25% of jobs will disappear. That's not our view. That's what we want to emphasize.” He said.
Briggs said generative AI can save workers time.
“The way we leverage generative AI to impact the economy is primarily by saving people time and freeing them up for more productive activities.” He said.
Briggs said the expansion of generative AI over the past decade has made the technology more accessible to the general public.
“To use AI, you basically formulate a question, go to a software engineer or data scientist, have them post that question to a model, have them interpret the results back to you, and tell you the answer to the question. I had to get it.” He said. “Today, generative AI is available to everyone. You can download ChatGPT to your phone.”
Briggs asked the audience if they had any questions or comments about generative AI as it relates to their profession.
Mark Miller, an adviser to the president of Marietta College, said professors are checking to see if students are using AI to correct their papers. He also said he wonders how AI will impact students' research abilities.
“We don't want generative AI to have the potential to undermine the educational process.” Briggs said. “There's a lot of value in poring over academic papers and reading reports from industry to really know what's going on.”
Christopher Justice, chairman of the Ohio Valley Economic Roundtable, said he was impressed by Briggs' presentation.
“I thought it was amazing.” He said. “AI is an emerging technology and it's not going away. We need to learn more about it.”
