CEO of 'Big 4' Accounting Firm KPMG Predicts Long-Term Job Disruptions Due to AI

In a recent interview, KPMG CEO Paul Knopp forecasted significant long-term job disruptions as a consequence of the growing influence of AI in the workplace. The CEO revealed survey data showing 65 percent of executives believe AI will have a large impact on their organization in the next five years.

During an interview with FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Paul Knopp, the CEO of KPMG, one of America’s “Big Four” accounting firms, expressed concerns about the long-term impact of AI on jobs. He emphasized that while there hasn’t been significant job loss to date, 76 percent of millennials and Gen Z workers report their jobs are already significantly impacted by generative AI, highlighting a trend towards mainstream AI integration in the workforce.

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 19: World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende (L) delivers a speech during the closing ceremony of the World Economic Forum on January 19, 2024 in Davos, Switzerland. The 2024 World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting takes place in Davos on January 15-19 (Photo by Ma Xiuxiu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images).

A KPMG survey revealed that 58 percent of consumers believe generative AI, which can create various versions of text, images, audio, and other media, has a significant impact on their professional lives. Generative AI, recognized as a “deep-learning model” by IBM, is known for its capability to learn extensive coding languages. The study also found that 65 percent of business executives predict a high impact of generative AI on their organizations within the next three to five years.

Despite these disruptions, Knopp remains optimistic about the economy’s capacity to absorb the technological shock, stating: “You think about all the different emerging technologies we’ve put in place over the last 25 years, and yet there’s been net job growth and not net job loss. And I think that with every emerging technology, we have seen that over time. And maybe the nature of some of what people do changes.”

The study referenced by Knopp also questioned workers on how they feel AI will affect their jobs. Knopp stated: “That same study said that these individuals [who] took the survey, that they weren’t that worried about job disruption, they thought that their mental health would actually improve, meaning that more mundane tasks might be automated, allowing them to do more valuable things in their work.”

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva also contributed to the conversation, raising concerns about the potential disappearance of jobs with the rise of AI. Additionally, an IMF report estimated that 60 percent of global jobs might soon be impacted by AI.

Georgieva stated: “The report is a wake-up call. Because it says, over the next years, it’s not going to happen tomorrow, but… there will be a tsunami affecting us. And, we still have a chance to not be hit by it, but rather to ride on it for opportunities for higher growth.”