PwC sorted workers into 4 AI groups — one of them could become 'largely irrelevant' at work, and over 50% of people are in it. Are you?

“There is a real risk that the global workforce is starting to move at different speeds,” Peter Brown, global workforce leader at PwC, said in a statement. “More than half of workers are not yet benefiting from AI and skills in the same way, while those with scarce skills and strong AI capabilities are becoming more confident and more mobile. Leaders need to think hard about where they invest in skills, how they give people the opportunity to adapt and how they hold on to the capabilities they most need.”

Brown also highlighted the risks that employers may incur if they ignore this AI divide between employees.

"The danger is that you actually could render a big chunk of your workforce largely irrelevant in the world of work," said Brown, according to Business Insider.

The four groups

PwC has categorized today’s workers into four groups when it comes to AI usage.

AI insurgents

Making up 18% of the workforce, this group is seeing unexpected benefits and could challenge assumptions about future value, PwC wrote. These are mainly workers who have skills that are less in demand but are using AI in an ambitious manner.

Front-runners

This is a group of in-demand workers who see some of the strongest benefits from AI. They make up just 14% of the workforce, and roughly four out of five of those in this group told PwC they are able to access learning and development resources.

Indispensables

This group sees the smallest advantage from AI, if they even see an advantage at all. However, because those in this group possess skills that are both in high demand and are difficult to replace, they remain fairly safe, even if AI isn’t boosting their effectiveness. This group makes up 11% of the labor market.

Engine room workers

Those in this group, which makes up the core workforce, are the people who are seeing little to no advantages to AI. They cover 56% of employees. They’re not connected to learning the technology and don’t see future opportunities and possible innovations with it. This is largely because they have not had access to the learning and development resources they need.

“This group is less likely to be rewarded for using AI, learning new skills or challenging existing ways of working — yet they are the majority of the workforce, responsible for most of the day-to-day work within an organization,” PwC said.

Rising adoption

While the majority of the 50,000 workers surveyed by PwC landed in the lowest category, which could eventually put them at risk of losing their jobs, overall adoption of AI technology is on the rise.

Nearly two-thirds of workers say they’ve used AI at work in the past year, a 10-point rise over last year’s 54% rate. And nearly six in ten said they expect their use of AI tools will increase in the year to come.

The more workers use AI, the better they feel about their job stability. PwC’s survey found that 68% of daily AI users said they felt confident about their positions, compared to just 57% of infrequent users. Regular AI users are also more likely to ask for a promotion or be confident in their ability to learn new skills.

Workers in the engine room category, meanwhile, have the lowest level of pride in their work and look forward to working significantly less than their coworkers.

Moneywise reached out to PwC for comment but didn’t receive a response in time for publication.