AI may 'exacerbate inequality' at work. Here's how experts think companies should address that

CNBC

05-05-2025

Workplace leaders are grappling with balancing between prioritizing people and profit making amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
Companies have a responsibility to protect jobs as the AI boom could drive unemployment and "potentially exacerbate inequality," CIMB Group's chief data and AI officer Pedro Uria-Recio told CNBC Make It at the GITEX Asia 2025 conference.
"There is a huge wave of change, and unfortunately, some people might be left behind," he said.
The U.N. Trade and Development agency warned in an April report that AI could affect 40% of jobs worldwide and widen inequality between nations.
Therefore, companies should work to not only equip employees with the right skills that will enable them to handle the AI revolution more effectively, but also work to create new employment, added Uria-Recio.
However, not all workplace leaders share the same perspective.
"We need to establish that protecting employment might not be the right mindset," Tomasz Kurczyk, chief information technology officer at Prudential Singapore, told CNBC Make It.
"The question is: 'What can we do to make sure that we adapt employment?' Because it's like trying to prevent a tsunami wave. We know protection will not necessarily be effective. So it's thinking really how we can adapt," said Kurczyk.
The AI revolution follows earlier disruptions, such as the rise of the internet towards the end of the 20th century, said Uria-Recio.
Artificial intelligence entered common discourse in November 2022, when OpenAI launched its generative AI chatbot ChatGPT to the public. Since then, the technology's impact has advanced considerably, and companies have ramped up efforts in transforming their workforces to advance and compete globally.
Uria-Recio said: "Later... we started to [think] mobile-first. I think the mindset now has to be AI-first, but keeping humans in the loop."
While AI has been touted to help employees become more effective and productive, experts agree that its unintended consequences also need to be addressed.
Today, 82% of leaders say they're confident that they'll use digital labor such as advanced generative AI tools, or AI agents, to expand workforce capacity in the next 12–18 months, according to the 2025 Microsoft Trend Index. In addition, 78% of leaders may hire AI-specific roles to prepare for the future.
Meanwhile, 47% of leaders say that upskilling their existing workforce is a top priority, and notably, 33% are considering headcount reductions, according to the report.
Besides its impact on jobs, the application of ethics in AI has started to dominate the discourse in boardrooms.
"AI is able to take data and accelerate the bias at light speed," said Kurczyk.
"The data is created by humans, one way or another...so the data inherits our bias as well," Kurczyk added. "If you think about this — the bias is not a bug. It is a feature that we don't want when it comes to AI, so the question is, how we can manage this better?"
Despite the concerns about AI, experts remain optimistic about the technology's impact on society.
"I believe that AI will become [free] for all, and this will open incredible opportunities for everyone across the globe," said Kurczyk.
For example, AI could lead to a revival of more artisanal work, which will create new opportunities for people, Kurczyk added.
"Where inequality can happen, it will be mostly in the short term when the biggest shift is happening ... [and] a single company or a single organization cannot manage this," he said.
Instead, it will require educational institutions, governments and corporations to work jointly to ensure that existing inequalities will not be propagated, he added.