AI Could Lead to New Roles for Older Workers

by Jon Marcus, AARP

While some people are afraid that technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation could cost them their jobs, new research suggests a much happier alliance between technology and workers — particularly older workers. These studies argue that new tech could be harnessed to reduce physical demands, slowing the effects of physical decline that often cause older workers to leave jobs. The new tech might even give some workers age 50 and older the chance to highlight their strengths compared to those of their younger colleagues.

These benefits, combined with flexible work arrangements such as remote work, will enable older workers to stay in their jobs longer, researchers say. That’s good news, not just for people age 50 and older who aren’t in a rush to stop working but also for the broader economy, for people’s ability to save more for retirement, and for federal programs such as Social Security that fund benefits through deductions from current workers’ paychecks.

If there’s a catch, it’s that new technology requires something else from workers: learning how to use it effectively.

“While jobs are becoming less physically demanding, they are becoming more cognitively demanding,” coauthor of the report says. “The discomfort and the challenge is that we need to educate people — those who are currently in the labor market and those who are coming into the labor market — to work in this new world.”

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