According to a survey conducted by Axa, only a small proportion of bosses of companies with 5 to 250 employees expect to be able to do without staff despite the increasing use of AI applications.
In the information and communication sector, where AI is likely to provide the greatest time savings according to the study, only 7% of SMEs anticipate job savings.
“Even though AI applications are primarily used in communication today, AI tasks such as translations or correspondence appear to be used more as a support than a replacement”, Kathrin Braunwarth, Head of Data, Technology & Innovation at Axa Switzerland, was quoted as saying in the press release published on Thursday.
Employees would hand over “tedious and somewhat tedious tasks” to AI applications. This would simplify work and save time, but not necessarily threaten jobs.
In other sectors, the fear of job losses is greater. For example, 22% of companies in the manufacturing sector, 18% in trade and 14% in industry expect job cuts. “In these sectors, there is a relatively large amount of standardisable work, such as production, sorting or logistics tasks, which explains the high potential for job cuts,” Axa explains.
Larger companies more positive
When assessing AI applications in terms of business development, however, the differences depend not only on the industry, but in particular on the size of the SMEs. According to the press release, over half of the companies surveyed with more than 50 employees see artificial intelligence as a positive development.
Among medium-sized companies with up to 49 employees, this proportion drops to 41%. Among SMEs with five to nine employees, only 27% of respondents still think that AI is useful to them. A quarter of respondents from small companies even consider AI to be a threat. This fear is far less prevalent among medium-sized (15%) and large companies (6%).
“A meaningful implementation of AI often requires resources, such as technology and employees who know how to deal with it. Larger SMEs are more likely to have these resources at their disposal than smaller SMEs,” says Braunwarth.
More
Debate
Hosted by:
Sara Ibrahim
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.