THE RISE OF AI AND WHO’S HIRING

RS COMPONENTS –

With 2020 just around the corner it seems like five minutes ago when the world saw the turn of the century in 2000, and it’s safe to say a lot has changed since then. Technology has come on leaps and bounds over the last 20 years, with the release of the first iPod in 2001 and the first iPhone only released in 2007. Just a handful of years later and chances are, most of us are just a few inches away from a mobile phone, laptop or iPad. We are living in a truly digital era, where technology has become increasingly interwoven and ingrained into both our personal and working lives.

Over the last decade or two technology has become incorporated into all industries, having a dramatic impact and transforming job roles and responsibilities to varying degrees. For some, the workplace has been transformed entirely because of technology. With computer brains working at a rate far beyond the comprehensibility of the human brain, menial tasks that could take hours, days even weeks to complete with the risk of human error to top it off, are now being finished in minutes, due to the ability of tech machines to process data fast. As a result, technology has reduced the time spent on tasks in the workplace and also removed them altogether, which as a result has seen some job roles become redundant.

A major technological advancement has been the creation and incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our day-to-day lives both at work and at home. Whilst this technology is only now being incorporated into our lives for us to notice, the term was coined all the way back in 1956 by John McCarthy, and has been studied ever since. AI is immensely useful in industries with staggering amounts of important data to process, including national health, banking and legal services. Not only is this technology reducing the risk of human error in processing the data manually, AI is saving time and money as a result.

Processing data is a great example of technology taking over our jobs and this isn’t set to stop as more innovations are being pushed forward and implemented. A former Google Exec predicted that AI will replace 40 per cent of jobs in the next 15 years, Whilst this can be a cause of anxiety for those who may be at risk of losing their job to a robot, it is also important to note the exciting possibilities of new job roles we haven’t even heard of, which will naturally emerge with the rise of tech in the workplace. The former Google Exec supports this, stating that AI will allow entire new industries to be built up from the ground.

AI is still being understood by many industries, and is still unfamiliar to many on how to incorporate it. At the forefront of this technology in the workplace are the globe’s tech giants, including the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon who are recognising the potential of the tech, leading the way in its implementation. These leading companies are recruiting roles that incorporate the technology to lead a more technologically ingrained future. Working for one of these tech giants is a dream for many, but do you need to get familiar with AI to work for these tech giants in the near future?

RS Components has analysed job posts from some of the world’s biggest tech companies in this interactive campaign here, to discover who has the highest percentage of AI-related job openings.

Leading the way is Microsoft, who currently have a staggering 1,964 AI job openings, which is over double any other company in the top 10. The figure equates to 36% of Microsoft’s total jobs they have available and comes as no surprise as the company continue to lead the way with some of the world’s most innovative inventions. It also helps that the CEO Bill Gates is one of the richest people on the planet, which allows for the company to invest and really push for AI in the workplace.

Coming in at second is Nvidi, a computer game company involved in designing and developing new gaming material. With 33% of its jobs relating to AI, this technology will be immensely useful in building games quickly and efficiently. In third place is JD.com, which whilst the number of AI openings is just 19, the percentage of this across their vacancies is a whopping 20%.

Arguably the largest tech company in the world today, Apple rank surprisingly low at 12th, with just 129 AI jobs available, just 3% of their total vacancies. Amazon ranks even lower at 15th, with just  2% of its total 18,781 roles being related to AI. Whilst this can’t be down to its founder, Bezos who shows off a net worth of a whopping $134 billion, it is likely these companies have already recruited the majority of their AI roles a few years back.

So with AI on the rise, which industries will be next to recruit roles related to this technology?