NEW YORK–Should credit union CEOs and other C-suite execs also be worried about losing their jobs to artificial intelligence?
While concerns in credit unions over AI-related job losses have largely focused on call center agents and content creation positions, such as marketing, one new analysis suggests the shake-up caused by AI could eventually go all the way to the top of organizations.
“The chief executive is increasingly imperiled by AI, just like the writer of news releases and the customer service representative,” reported the New York Times. “Dark factories, which are entirely automated, may soon have a counterpart at the top of the corporation: dark suites. This is not just a prediction. A few successful companies have begun to publicly experiment with the notion of an AI leader, even if at the moment it might largely be a branding exercise.”
Finding a ‘Foothold’
Even in its current “rudimentary form,” the report notes that AI that mimics human reasoning is finding a foothold among “distressed companies with little to lose and lacking strong leadership.”
“In struggling companies, you’ll be replacing operational management first but probably keep a few humans to think beyond the machines,” Saul J. Berman, a former senior consulting partner with IBM, told the Times, adding that overall, “the change delivered by AI in corporations will be as great or greater at the higher strategic levels of management as the lower ranks.”
What 1 Survey Found
The report cited a survey of hundreds of CEOs that was conducted by EdX, the online learning platform created by administrators at Harvard and MIT, which found 47% believe “most” or “all” of the chief executive role should be completely automated or replaced by AI.
According to the report, the Chinese online game company NetDragon Websoft, which has 5,000 employees, appointed what it calls an “AI-driven rotating C.E.O.” named Tang Yu in 2022. The report cited the company’s founder, Deijian Liu, as saying, “We believe AI is the future of corporate management.”
There is Hope, Say Some
But credit union CEOs and other C-suite leaders may not need to be as worried as some would suggest. Vinay Menon, who leads the global AI practice at Korn Ferry told the Times, “We’ve always outsourced effort. Now we’re outsourcing intelligence. While you may not need the same number of leaders, you will still need leadership.”
Added Sean Earley, a managing director for the executive consulting firm Teneo, humans provide accountability in a way that machines do not. “AI may be exploited by some as a way to shield folks from having to take fiduciary responsibility,” Earley told the Times. “At what point does it become culpable for a mistake?”