Expert stays optimistic despite fears about AI in the labour market

A new survey from Trygfonden finds that Danes expect artificial intelligence to benefit companies far more than employees. Two out of three respondents think AI will help Danish businesses, roughly double the share who expect gains for the workforce.

Frederik Olsen, senior analyst at the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd), says the figures do not yet show companies gaining at employees' expense. Even in jobs where unemployment is expected to rise, employment is following the trend of the wider labour market. He calls AI a productivity improvement the labour market must embrace, but says this requires investment in continuing education and skills development so that both employees and employers benefit. So far, he says, there is no sign that AI is causing higher unemployment.

The survey also shows widespread worry about young people. About six in ten respondents aged 18 to 35 fear AI will make it harder for young people and recent graduates to find work, and 46 percent of the whole population share that concern. Olsen points to a September analysis from Denmark's central bank, Nationalbanken, which found that employment among young people grew less at firms using AI than at firms that do not. The same analysis found that young workers who would otherwise have been hired by AI-using firms found jobs elsewhere. Olsen calls it too early to draw overall conclusions but says developments among young workers should be followed closely. He adds that AI could widen the gap between people with the right skills and those without.

Olsen remains optimistic, citing the flexibility of the Danish labour market and its labour market model. Nationalbanken assumes that firms adopting AI will keep doing so at a pace that lets affected employees steadily find work elsewhere. It stresses that uncertainty is large and cannot rule out that AI will eventually lead to fewer jobs in Denmark.