The impact of AI on the UK Job Market

Why are we talking about this?

Because we are solicitors focused on advising employees and employers on settlement agreements, we see the real-life impact of economic cycles coming through the system as redundancies and settlement agreements. In our professional legal career we’ve assisted clients through the credit crunch and recession it caused, Covid-19 and now we’re facing a world of inflation. These challenges tend to be cyclical or short lived but there are also major shifts in society or technology that result in significant long-term changes in the kind of work people are doing and the number of jobs. We think artificial intelligence (‘AI’) will be the next major shift.

The fourth Industrial Revolution

Historic examples of these major shifts include the development of agriculture using new technologies and machinery, and the move to an industrialised economy.

In 2016 the World Economic Forum (WEF) published a paper on the Fourth Industrial Revolution; this will move on from the third ‘digital’ revolution and into a world of automation, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence.

Government launches AI white paper

In April 2023 the government published a white paper on the UK’s approach to AI and in particular “regulating artificial intelligence to build public trust in cutting-edge technologies and make it easier for businesses to innovate, grow and create jobs” (underling is our emphasis). With ~ 50,000 people or more employed in AI and the sector contributing £3.7 billion to the economy last year, there is much to be positive about, when it comes to the impact of AI on jobs, despite all the doom and gloom of headlines talking of AI replacing UK jobs.

Our contribtion

We are capturing anonymised data from settlement agreements on the impact of artificial intelligence, including generative AI tools like CHAT GPT, on the UK job market.

The We are working with the HR community, academics, and recruiters to better understand what’s really going on in UK business when it comes to AI. If you’re a journalist interested in receiving our updates and research, please get in touch.