QOTD: “The Robots Are Not Coming For Your Jobs, They’re Coming For Your Tasks”

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk
a large robot with foot in the air, small robot underneath, automation

That’s Dan Black, Global Talent Acquisition Leader at EY, in an interview with HR Grapevine.

Q. We’ve seen high-profile cases of AI-related layoffs. How do you protect employees as you roll out AI?

It’s the question we get all the time from our people. First and foremost, I say this: The robots are not coming for your jobs, they’re coming for your tasks.

And in most cases, they’re coming for tasks that you don’t want to do anyway. So much of the automation is for mundane, routine work that people don’t want to make the time for. IMF did a piece of research that found 60% of jobs in advanced economies will be impacted by AI. But keep in mind that it’s rarely entire functions or entire jobs; it’s pieces of jobs.

5 million applications to 140,000 hires: Inside EY’s billion-dollar investment in human-centric AI [HR Grapevine]

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And Now…Ernst & Young Interns Employees Singing a Song About Making Partner, Acronyms in the Tune of Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’

UPDATE: Don’t ask me why staff are singing a song about “Intern Dreams” but apparently that is the case, hence the change in the headline. Carry on.

After being away for awhile, many you probably thought that I get on here and bitch and moan how awful it is to be back to grind with you all. It’s been quite the opposite experience actually, as we’ve learned that Adrienne is more than capable of getting people’s attention that inevitably result in emails being sent directly to me while it was widely known that I could be doing any number of things at the time, including A) watching someone’s Vespa go up in flames in London B) eating space cakes C) speaking to French women with a bad American accent D) watching a shockingly violent fight at Amsterdam’s Gay Pride Parade.

But nevermind all that. Cooler heads typically prevail around here so it’s nothing that couldn’t be handled. Plus, it nice to know that I can leave for a couple of weeks and the site doesn’t miss a beat.

But what really makes my life easy is coming back to emails pointing me to the EYConnects Facebook page where you can find this video:


As any long time reader of GC knows, Ernst & Young runs away with from the rest of the Big 4 when it comes to producing videos that border on hilarity. No need to look further than the masterpiece of “In a JIT” to the video from the Las Vegas office featuring an Elvis impersonator.

While “EY Dream” doesn’t feature legendary lyrics like “On a jet like Turley” mocking acronyms and well-rehearsed choreography wins points in our book. Still would have been funny to hear some self-deprecating lyrics related to Lehman Brothers. Oh well, we’ll keep waiting.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on this latest effort below.