Published in The Treasurer
Will artificial intelligence erode the role of treasurers or boost their profile within business? Sally Percy investigates
Read too many articles about artificial intelligence (AI) and you could come to the conclusion that humankind collectively is heading for a career dead end.
A 2013 paper by academics at the University of Oxford predicted that 47% of US jobs were at risk of being automated over the next 20 years – with the jobs affected ranging from taxi drivers through to accountants.
A year later, a joint report by the same university, together with Deloitte, predicted that 10 million British jobs could be taken over by computers and robots over the same period.
Then, a 2016 study by salary benchmarking site Emolument revealed that nearly half (47%) of people working in financial services in several different countries thought that technological innovations, such as automated trading platforms, were putting their jobs at risk.
With the use of AI within business set to increase dramatically over the coming decades, where does this leave the treasurer? Will the profession even exist in 2030 or will it have been consigned to the history books? Let’s find out.