I have decided to write about how AI is impacting both blue and white collar industries. In this essay, I will go over the possible impacts, both positive and negative, that can happen to the two sides of the American workforce.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-generative-ai-job-exposure/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9127971
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/ai-impact-on-jobs-and-work
Boots or a Button-Up: How Will Each Be Impacted by Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping both blue and white-collar jobs in distinct ways. White Collar workers, who rely on digital skills and computer-based tasks, benefit from AI automating habitual work, allowing focus on high-value tasks and efficient decision making. In contrast, blue-collar workers, which typically require little digital skill, may face challenges adapting to AI potentially leading to reduced hours and job instability as there is a negative tie between AI exposure and growth in hours worked on average within occupations with low computer use. There remains a commentary on the inverse projected effects AI will place in each industry, the repetitive roles in white collar could be replaced, while the efficiency they will benefit will provide context-specific information to assist in decision-making on site. The inclusion of AI in both fields will pose an automation focus, increasing productivity, while also presenting a fear of job insecurity.
Citations
Acemoglu, D. and Johnson, S. (2023) Choosing AI’s impact on the future of work (SSIR), AI’s Impact on Jobs and Work Is a Choice Between Two Futures. Available at: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/ai-impact-on-jobs-and-work (Accessed: 30 April 2025).
Cerullo, M. (2024) How the AI revolution is different: It threatens white-collar workers, CBS News. Available at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-generative-ai-job-exposure/ (Accessed: 30 April 2025).
Georgieff, A. and Hyee, R. (2022) Artificial Intelligence and Employment: New cross-country evidence, Frontiers in artificial intelligence. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9127971/ (Accessed: 30 April 2025).