Will ChatGPT take your job?; Most trans adults are happier after transitioning

Today’s global news summary brings news affecting the globe, the US, and Germany, and discusses issues as diverse as AI, happiness, and strikes.

Global: ChatGPT could disrupt the traditional workplace
US: Most trans adults are happier after transitioning
Germany: Transport network comes to near standstill after largest strike in decades

ChatGPT and its rival AI models could dramatically disrupt the labor market
Labor markets and institutions
ChatGPT, an open-access AI application developed by OpenAI, and launched in November 2022, has already cracked the US’s bar and medical licensing exams, whilst also being able to write emails and songs, and build apps, reports Al Jazeera. By January 2023 the app had 100 million users worldwide. Companies are now rushing to launch products built entirely on ChatGPT in sectors ranging from customer services to financial analytics. But, while it’s thought AI like ChatGPT could replace routine jobs in some sectors, experts are suggesting it could also enhance productivity and complement human workers. The technology can produce and analyze text, answer questions, and perform other language and speech-related tasks, meaning some professions will be affected more than others, e.g. telemarketers and teachers. However, the technology is still not perfect and its creators admit that it is still “flawed and limited.”

“Policymakers have a crucial role in controlling the pace of automation to avoid inefficient investment, smoothing transitions for displaced workers, and fostering education and training that help workers adapt to change,” write Michael Gibbs and Sergei Bazylik in their IZA World of Labor article.

Key topics
Digital transformation, big data, and the future of work

Opinions
A data tax for a digital economy
We can't blame the loss of mid-level jobs purely on robots

Videos
Automation and the future of jobs: Stijn Broecke in conversation with Daniel S Hamermesh

IZA Discussion Papers
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Labor Markets in Developing Countries: A New Method with an Illustration for Lao PDR and Viet Nam
The Wrong Kind of AI? Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Labor Demand

Most trans adults in the US are happier after transitioning
Demography, family, and gender
A new survey conducted by the Washington Post and KFF, a health-related non-profit, has revealed that a large majority of transgender adults in the US (78%) are more satisfied with their lives after transitioning, reports the Guardian. However, overall rates of life satisfaction among trans people are lower than the general population, largely due to the discrimination they face. About 25% of trans adults have faced physical assault, and 60% verbal harassment. Republican politicians in the US have lately been introducing a number of bills that negatively impact transgender rights, but regardless of this a majority of those surveyed believe public perceptions are changing. Fifty-five percent said the US is more accepting of trans people than it was ten years ago.

IZA World of Labor author Nick Drydakis tells us that “An active trans population enjoying equal treatment in the labor market will be better able to help build the social and economic capital of their countries.”

Key topics
Workplace discrimination

Videos
Discrimination and anti-discrimination policies: Harry Holzer in discussion with Daniel S Hamermesh

IZA Discussion Papers
Understanding Labor Market Discrimination against Transgender People: Evidence from a Double List Experiment and a Survey

Germany’s transport network affected by largest strike in decades
Labor markets and institutions
German airport, port, railway, bus, and subway staff walked out for 24 hours on Monday March 27 calling for higher wages to help with the rising costs of living in the country, reports the BBC. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is optimistic an agreement can be reached with the country’s two largest unions this week. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Frank Werneke, the chief of Verdi, one of the unions involved, described the pay rise as “a matter of survival for many thousands of employees.” He says workers are underpaid and “hopelessly” overworked. There have been multiple walkouts by other public service sectors in recent weeks too, including childcare and education workers. While postal workers successfully negotiated an 11.5% pay rise in early March.

“Without unions bargaining successfully to raise worker wages, income inequality would almost certainly be higher than it is,” says Alex Bryson, IZA World of Labor author.

Key topics
Trade unions and collective bargaining

Opinions
The recent push toward unionization in the US
The union wage premium: Is it real?

IZA Discussion Papers
Strikes, Employee Workplace Representation, Unionism, and Trust: Evidence from Cross-Country Data
Workers Made Idle by Company Strikes and the 'British Disease'

Poor suffer most from global disasters

Hollywood writers may strike; China’s youth unemployment hits historic high