As AI rapidly transforms workplaces, employees are on edge.

Roughly two years after ChatGPT's release sparked widespread interest in generative AI, it's becoming clear that most workers' jobs will fundamentally change — and some may disappear. An analysis by the International Monetary Fund published in January forecast that artificial intelligence would affect nearly 40% of jobs.

But the impact of AI on employment is complex and far-reaching. Some roles may become obsolete; others may be augmented or even created by AI. Workers are simultaneously experiencing anxiety, doubt, and excitement. What new skills will I need to develop? How can I stay relevant? And importantly, is my organization prepared for this AI-driven future?

Whether employees can trust their organization's leaders to navigate these opportunities is a pivotal question, said Brian Solis, the head of global innovation at ServiceNow, a cloud-based automation platform, and author of the book "Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future." He said that while many executives recognize AI's promise in increasing efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, they often fail to grasp the technology's profound potential.

"Leaders talk about the new normal or the next normal, but then they natively snap back to business as usual," Solis said. "It's the leaders who explore and ask: 'What if? Who will unlock entirely new ways of working?'"

Workers themselves have a responsibility to learn and grow, he added. They need to experiment with new technologies both in and outside work and challenge themselves to push beyond their comfort zones. "You need to literally rewire your brain," he said. "If you're waiting for someone to tell you what to do, you're on the wrong side of innovation."

'Workers need to be proactive'

Despite the breathless headlines about AI changing everything about the way we work, the reality is more mundane.

In a quarterly Gallup survey of American workers conducted in May, seven in 10 respondents said they never used AI in their jobs, and only one in 10 said they used it regularly. The survey used a random sample of 21,543 working adults. Among those who said they did use AI, the most common applications included generating ideas, consolidating information, and automating basic tasks.

Still, investment in AI continues to surge. A report from IDC predicted that global spending would reach $632 billion by 2028, more than double what it is now, covering AI apps, infrastructure, and related services.

Companies are investing in AI to avoid falling behind, said Mansour Javidan, an expert in digital transformation and the executive director of the Najafi Global Mindset Institute at Arizona State's Thunderbird School of Global Management. "There's a lot of hype driven by board expectations, and that's led to a herd mentality to move quickly," he said. "No CEO is going to look bad by investing in AI right now."

Workers, meanwhile, are caught between uncertainty and anticipation. "There's a disconnect," Javidan said. "At the highest levels of the organization, there's a lot of excitement about AI. But among lower- and midlevel employees, there's a good deal of anxiety and ambiguity because there's no clear path."

But "workers mustn't rely on senior executives and hope things will turn out rosy," he said.

Javidan advises employees to seize development opportunities within their organizations and seek out online courses. Many top universities, including MIT and Stanford, provide free classes and workshops to help people build their skills. Grassroots and community-based learning groups, such as Women Defining AI, can be valuable resources.

"Workers need to be proactive and educate themselves," he said.

AI as a strategic collaborator

Beyond formal training and coursework, getting comfortable with AI requires a fundamental mindset shift, experts say.

"We were born with skills like curiosity, wonder, and imagination, but we often unlearned these in schools," Solis said. "The aim with AI should not be to generate expected answers or reinforce existing thinking but to challenge our conventions."

Solis said he uses AI as a tool for perspective taking, asking it to generate responses from the personas of the Apple founder Steve Jobs and Walt Disney. This approach helps him identify blind spots, explore alternative viewpoints, and seek inspiration. "They're my personal coaches," he said.

Molly Sands, the head of the teamwork lab at the software company Atlassian, which studies teamwork in the age of AI and distributed work, recommends viewing AI as a creative partner, not just a task-completion machine. "The people who are saving the most time and seeing the biggest benefits are those who see AI as a strategic collaborator," she said.

This involves engaging with AI through dynamic, iterative conversations — much like working with a team of experts, she said. A new study by researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management backed this up, finding that human-AI teams showed the most promise in creative tasks like generating content and imagery and translating software code.

"A lot of people use it for one or two use cases, but the growth we're going to see in the next year or two is the people who think about it more ubiquitously," Sands said. "Agents will be a key driver of this."

Her team at Atlassian, for example, has developed a custom agent designed to help employees write more clearly. Essentially, she said, workers "word-vomit" into the agent with information about their audience, context, and key details. The agent then offers up a tailored draft in the worker's voice.

"Our workdays are consumed by writing emails, creating slide decks, and other routine tasks," Sands said. "If AI can take on some of this load — freeing us up for creative thinking and solving meaty problems — the better off we'll be."

The value of soft skills

Learning how to work with AI is imperative for most workers, but it's important to recognize that human skills remain essential.

After all, said Hakan Ozcelik, a professor of management at California State University, Sacramento, the value of human workers lies in their cognitive, behavioral, and emotional abilities. "There are all sorts of skills that AI doesn't have yet, and maybe never will," he said.

"Humans are inherently social beings, constantly interacting with customers, colleagues, competitors, and their physical environment," Ozcelik said. "These interpersonal skills are invaluable assets for any organization."

While AI can process information and perform repetitive functions with speed and accuracy, it lacks the soft skills necessary for effective communication and strategic decision-making. A report by Cornerstone, a skills-development platform, said that while generative-AI-related job postings had risen 411% since 2023, the demand for soft skills such as leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence outpaced digital skills by 2.4 times in North America and 2.9 times in Europe.

This is why Ozcelik advises employees to embark on what he calls "a process of professional soul-searching." Closely analyze your daily activities to determine your unique contributions and core competencies that cannot be outsourced, he said: "Dissect your work and look at what you offer your organization in a given day or a week."

Also, identify areas where AI could offer assistance. For example, teachers may realize that while AI can handle grading for grammar and syntax, they should focus on evaluating students' ideas and nurturing creativity. Similarly, healthcare professionals can leverage AI for administrative tasks or data analysis while dedicating more quality time to patients.

In an AI-driven world, the need for human skills will not change; instead, these skills will become even more vital as workers learn to collaborate effectively with technology, Ozcelik said.

"It's about what you contribute and the value you bring," he said.

• Workers can start taking steps now to help boost their careers into next year.
• People should enhance their AI skills to stay competitive, one executive told BI.
• Volunteering and side hustles can boost skills, empowerment, and career opportunities.

It's almost that time again: a new year and new opportunities to improve our work and ourselves.

Alongside starting a gym routine or giving up ultra-processed foods, you might consider taking steps now that might help you begin to boost your career.

Here are three ways you can start to level up your career — even before the end of 2024, according to workplace experts.

Get better with AI

Sean Barry, the vice president of talent acquisition at Allstate, told Business Insider that workers should try to become more proficient in artificial intelligence.

He said it's essential to realize that the technology will put a premium on a new set of skills for many people — like how to create an appropriate prompt for generative AI.

"That is not a skill that anybody talked about two years ago, and it's critically important now," Barry said, adding that people who are better at this will likely do better in their careers.

One way to improve your AI skills is simply to use it. Start by trying out chatbots and seeing what works.

It's become a cliché to say that AI won't replace you, but someone who knows how to use it will. Yet there are areas where AI might replace humans, which is why a better understanding of how AI works can be beneficial.

Kiki Leutner is cofounder of SeeTalent.ai, which is developing tests run by AI that would simulate tasks associated with a job to help the hiring process. She told BI that, traditionally, employers tended to use such tests for more senior roles only where it was worth the money and effort. Or, a company might give a software developer a coding task as a way of measuring proficiency.

Leutner said Generative AI can let employers test far more job seekers and across a broader range of roles than would otherwise be practical. Plus, she said, AI-run assessments can collect insights that previously were difficult to capture, such as how someone might interact with others.

Success in such areas often involves the soft skills employers say they're seeking and many bosses contend too many workers lack.

Share your skills by volunteering

You might feel too busy at work, yet carving out some time to help others can help you. A recent study from the University of Oxford found that volunteering proved more effective in boosting worker well-being than other interventions.

It's especially beneficial if it involves using your skills to assist others, according to Leila Saad, CEO of Common Impact, a nonprofit that connects companies and their workers with other nonprofits.

Saad told BI that many nonprofits lack the resources to meet all of their operational needs. So, when workers with that expertise can help, it benefits both the organization and the worker, she said.

"It feels good to give back skills you've honed over your entire career," she said.

That often trumps something like showing up for a one-off event like painting a school or planting trees, Saad said.

Beyond that, she said, workers — and their employers — can benefit if the employee might develop additional skills through volunteering.

Jennifer Schielke, the CEO of the staffing firm Summit Group Solutions and the author of "Leading for Impact," previously told BI that volunteering — even after something traumatic like losing a job — can help those newly out of work get a sense of perspective.

"If you have time to volunteer, go do it," she said. "Go get some encouragement by sitting alongside someone who has it worse than you do."

Consider starting a side hustle

Side hustles get a lot of attention when they're lucrative, yet there can be other benefits. They can be limited to weekend jobs, so workers' weekdays aren't too full. In other cases, side hustles might relieve burnout.

They can also make workers feel empowered.

Daniel Zhao, the lead economist at Glassdoor, told BI that workers in some industries feel stuck in their 9-to-5 roles because of lackluster hiring. That might be one reason more workers are picking up side hustles.

Zhao pointed to data gathered by Glassdoor and the Harris Poll. In a February survey of some 1,100 US adults, 39% reported having a side gig. The share was higher among younger workers: Fifty-seven percent of Gen Zers and 48% of millennials reported doing work in addition to their primary roles.

"Workers are much more willing to experiment nowadays," Zhao said. He pointed to rates of entrepreneurship, which he said "skyrocketed" during the pandemic.

Zhao said it's good news that entrepreneurship rates remain elevated following a "fairly weak" 2010s and said it indicates America's entrepreneurial spirit has recovered.

New business applications in the US have jumped to 431,000 a month in 2024, up 47% from 293,000 a month in 2019, Zhao said.

"Not only is that an opportunity for people to supplement their income on the side, but it also opens up new opportunities, new ideas, new technologies that can potentially boost the economy in the long run," he said.