According to a survey conducted by Zicheng PwC, a quarter of global CEOs expect that deploying generative artificial intelligence this year will lead to at least 5% employee reductions。The survey was released as world and business leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland。

In this survey, industries led by media and entertainment, banking, insurance and logistics are most likely to predict unemployment due to advanced AI tools。The survey covers a survey of senior executives conducted by Zicheng ahead of this week's World Economic Forum。Engineering and construction companies and technology companies are the least likely to expect layoffs due to automation.。

According to the survey, 46% of respondents said they expect to increase profitability in the next 12 months using generative artificial intelligence (systems that can generate human-like text, images, and code in seconds).。However, 47 percent said the technology would bring little or no change.。

The findings, based on interviews with 4,702 company executives in 105 countries, point to issues where AI models are expected to have a profound impact on the economy and society, which will be the main topic of this year's conference.。

Executives at the forefront of AI, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft's Satya Nadella, have been scheduled to attend.。While many economists expect AI to lead to productivity gains as it becomes more widespread, it will also cause labor unrest.。

A growing number of executives plan to deploy generative artificial intelligence in the coming months, as 32 percent of respondents said they have adopted the technology in their companies in the past year.。Fifty-eight percent said they expect generative artificial intelligence to improve the quality of their products or services in the next 12 months, while 69 percent said their employees will need to learn new skills.。

Last year, Goldman Sachs predicted that the latest breakthrough in AI could lead to the automation of a quarter of jobs in the United States and the euro zone, while triggering a productivity storm that would eventually boost annual global GDP by more than 7%.。

When it comes to AI risks, the Sincerity survey shows that executives are most concerned about cybersecurity and the spread of disinformation.。

In the short term, the study notes that concerns about the overall outlook are diminishing, with less than a quarter of directors reporting that their companies are "highly / extremely" sensitive to the threat of inflation, a steep decline from last year's 40 percent.。

38% think the global economy will be more prosperous this year, double the 18% last year。This is well below the growth optimism that accompanied the end of the Covid lockdown in previous years.。

The findings reflect hopes that the inflation upswing that began to affect the economy in 2021 has passed, along with investor speculation that central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, will start cutting interest rates this spring.。According to the Zicheng survey, executives in Asia and North America were the least worried about inflation, with about 20 per cent saying they were extremely or highly sensitive to inflation.。African executives, on the other hand, are most concerned about their companies' vulnerability to soaring prices.。

However, the survey shows that inflation and macroeconomic volatility outweigh other threats, including cyber risks, geopolitical volatility and climate change.。