In a 2023 study, the International Labour Organization estimated that generative artificial intelligence will transform more jobs than it eliminates. As a candidate for UN Secretary-General, President Macky Sall places the future of work among his priorities, because jobs are changing faster than institutions adapt to them.
Clerical work and women. The same study identifies clerical work as the most exposed to this transformation, more so still for women. The difficulty lies in the speed at which the technology reshuffles the tasks of a trade.
Young countries on the front line. The countries with the youngest populations will feel the effects first. Millions of young people reach their labour markets each year, just as the office jobs that growth had promised recede before they appear. These countries, which produce the least technology, nonetheless absorb its effects on employment.
Governing the transition. Continuing training, social protection and the voice of workers in the firm decide whether a wave of technology raises work or lowers it. These tools exist, and where they are missing, workers are left without recourse before a change they did not choose.
Protecting workers. The Secretary-General can support the standards of the International Labour Organization and place decent work on the agenda of development. The gains of a technology that increases wealth must also benefit those whose trade it transforms.
The experience of a head of state. Twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022 ground these commitments on work. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations and conceives development together with peace and security.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The International Labour Organization's 2023 study on generative artificial intelligence and employment is public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net