The report was inspired by the work done under the EU-US Trade and Technology Council.
ADVERTISEMENTTech companies Cisco, Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP have warned that the ICT industry needs to improve the AI skills of their employees, as 92% of these jobs are expected to transform due to artificial intelligence developments in the coming years.
In a report this week (30 July), the companies say that in 31% of the roles, employees will see less need for basic programming and language skills and a shift towards higher-level AI development competencies.
They therefore need a better understanding of the machine learning systems instead. With the introduction of tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Midjourney, workers must prepare for digital work environments to become increasingly adept at mimicking human capabilities, the report said.
According to a recent World Economic Forum study, 58% of employees believe their job skills will change significantly in the next five years due to AI and big data.
The group of companies was inspired by a working group on talent for growth under the US -EU Trade and Technology Council: a diplomatic forum for discussion and cooperation on technology and trade policy established in 2021.
The tech companies each commit to invest in training. Microsoft for example said it will be training and certifying 10 million people in digital skills by 2025, while Google announced over $130 million in funding to support AI training and skills globally.
EU falling short in development and training
The tech businesses’ call comes following the European Commission publication earlier this month (2 July) of its Digital Decade report in which it said the continent is falling short in several digital sectors including AI development and training of qualified personnel in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
In addition, the EU’s AI Act – stringent rules to regulate AI tools depending on the risk they pose to society – is set to officially enter into force this August, after it was approved by lawmakers and the 27 EU member states earlier this year.
The general-purpose AI rules will apply one year after entry into force and the obligations for high-risk systems in three years' time.
