New research busts 6 AI myths: Artificial intelligence makes workers 'more valuable, not less'

CNBC

06-06-2025

Despite widespread fears that artificial intelligence could automate jobs and cut employees' wages, AI actually makes people "more valuable, not less," new research by professional services firm PwC found.
"What causes people to react in this environment is the speed of the tech innovation," PwC Global Chief AI Officer, Joe Atkinson told CNBC Make It. "The reality is that the tech innovation is moving really, really fast. It's moving at a pace that we've never seen in a tech innovation before."
"What the report suggests, actually, is AI is creating jobs," Atkinson said.
In fact, both jobs and wages are growing in "virtually every" AI-exposed occupation — or jobs that have tasks where the technology can be used — including those that are the most automatable, such as customer service workers or software coders, according to the 2025 AI Jobs Barometer report.
"We know that every time we have an industrial revolution, there are more jobs created than lost. The challenge is that the skills workers need for the new jobs can be quite different," said Carol Stubbings, PwC UK's global chief commercial officer, in the report.
"So the challenge, we believe, is not that there won't be jobs. It's that workers need to be prepared to take them," said Stubbings.
The report, which analyzed over 800 million job ads and thousands of company financial reports across six continents, challenged six common myths about AI's impact:
Myth: AI has not yet had a significant impact on productivity.
However, the report found that since 2022, productivity growth in industries "best positioned to adopt AI" has nearly quadrupled, while falling slightly in industries "least exposed" to AI, such as physical therapy.
Notably, the industries that are the most exposed to AI, such as software publishing, showed three times higher growth in revenue per employee, according to PwC's data.
Myth: AI can have a negative impact on workers' wages and bargaining power.
PwC's data showed that the wages of workers with AI skills are on average 56% higher compared to workers without these skills in the same occupation, up from 25% last year. In addition, wages are rising twice as fast in industries that are the most exposed to AI compared to the industries least exposed.
Myth: AI may lead to a decrease in job numbers.
The report found that while occupations with lower exposure to AI saw strong job growth at 65% between 2019 and 2024, growth remained robust — albeit slower — even in occupations more exposed to the technology (38%).
Myth: AI may exacerbate inequalities in opportunities and wages for workers.
Contrary to fears that AI will worsen inequality, the report findings show that wages and employment are rising for jobs that are augmentable and automatable by the technology.
The report noted that employer demand for formal degrees is declining faster in AI-exposed jobs, creating broader opportunities "for millions".
Myth: AI may "deskill" jobs that it automates.
The report found that instead, AI can enrich automatable jobs by freeing up employees from tedious tasks to practice more complex skills and decision making. For example, data entry clerks can evolve into a "higher value" role such as data analysts, according to PwC.
Myth: AI may devalue jobs that it highly automates.
The data shows that not only are wages rising for jobs that are highly automatable, but the technology is also reshaping these jobs to become more "complex and creative," and ultimately, make people more valuable.
The study offers another perspective: In a world where many countries have declining working-age populations, softening job growth in AI-exposed occupations could even "be helpful" and benefit such countries.
The productivity boost by AI can actually create a "multiplier effect" on the available workforce and satisfy the gaps that companies might not have been able to be fill otherwise, as well as growth for businesses, said Atkinson.
"It's a prediction supported already by the productivity data we're seeing," he added. "I think it could absolutely and will be a good thing."
Ultimately, the study takes the stance that AI should be treated "as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy." Rather than using the technology to cut costs on headcount, companies should help their employees adapt and work together to create new opportunities, claim new markets and revenue streams.
"It is critical to avoid the trap of low ambition. Instead of limiting our focus to automating yesterday's jobs, let's create the new jobs and industries of the future," the report said.
"AI, if used with imagination, could spark a flowering of new jobs and new business models. For example, 2/3 of jobs in the U.S. today did not exist in 1940, and many of these new jobs were enabled by advances in technology," the report added.