Public debate on Artificial Intelligence often moves between excitement and anxiety, but the real question is not whether AI will change work, but how quickly and in what terms it will do so. From administrative office positions and customer support to new developers and analysts, pressure is already visible, as automation dynamically enters recurring and digital tasks.
At the same time, the image is not one-dimensional. While some white collar professions become more vulnerable, demand for specialized skills is increasing, while technical and blue collar professions acquire new dynamics, prestige and perspective. In his interview with Liberal, the professor of the Athens University of Economics, George Dukidis, explains why Greece must invest directly in the practical retraining, lifelong learning and connection of TN with the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Interview with Christos Th. Panagopoulos
Mr. Dukides, several CEOs warn that Artificial Intelligence can automate up to 50% of jobs in the coming years. What categories of workers do you think are now more exposed to Greece: administrative officials, new office graduates, customer support workers, analysts or even junior developers?
The professions that will be adversely affected are White collar, i.e. the office that usually create digital content and do not include manual engagement. The trend here is for more selective demand, not their complete disappearance. In this category of workers the labour market has become more competitive and selective, companies hire less and more targeted, and many entry-level positions are reduced due to TN. Particularly vulnerable professions are administrative positions (secretary, customer support), accountants engaged in routine procedures, low-specialization marketing executives, entry-level developers. The reason is simple, their processes are easily automated and the result of their work is digital and easily reproduced.
Despite the reduction, some other white collar occupations rise to demand, such as data analysis, cybersecurity, risk management and financial analysis, cloud development applications, etc. That is, professions that are not simple. «Office»but combine high specialization in combination with technological developments. So white collar professions don't die, but they reduce the most «easy» occupationals due to TN, while the skill requirement is increasing due to complexity. That is, we are led to an environment with fewer but more specialized white collar workers.
The most calm international analyses show that TN does not necessarily remove entire professions, but mainly individual tasks within them. How important this distinction is not to lead the public debate to excesses and what the professions will not be affected.
This finding is related to the Blue collar professions (i.e. technical/manual), where the trend is for a serious rise in demand. The reasons for the increase concern the upgrading of skills due to technological developments, TN cannot easily replace physical work, there is ageing of workers as many workers retire and at the same time there is substantial development of related sectors such as: construction, energy, infrastructure, production. Examples of such professions include electricians, plumbers, energy technicians, manufacturers, production engineers, etc. At the same time, in these blue collar professions we see wage growth and professional stability due to upgrading of their work with the technological upgrading of the work object, for example IoT technologies within the house.
In conclusion, the labour market is not directed towards «white vs blue collar» but towards a skill economy. I mean, it won't count so much for the degree, but what can the worker do practically with the necessary skills. Like technical knowledge and but above all quality cooperation, communication, innovative thinking, etc.
So we're seeing a development of the Blue Collar professions. In order to overcome the social degradation of the Blue Collar professions we have in Greece, is it possible for their university education and how will this bring about changes in the working environment of the future?
Yes, and indeed this is one of the most important possibilities that are being opened up today and with the use of TN. But we are not talking about classical university as we know it, but about a new hybrid training model that bridges blue-collar professions with university-level knowledge. Advanced education concerns technical professions such as: electricians, automation engineers, technical networks, etc. gradually becomes necessary because they begin to require understanding of complex digital systems, knowledge and use of advanced technological tools and data analysis. I mean, more scientific background than before. New forms of study are also shown and not necessarily a 4-year degree.
In other words, new educational models such as micro-credentials, university studies are being developed. «built» track-part (stackable Degrees) during all working life. So a worker can work and study simultaneously, as well as return to education when needed and when he can. In this new training model the role of TN is decisive because TN makes education more practical (through simulations, AR/VR), adapts learning to people without a serious academic background and accelerates learning technical skills.
But if we look at it realistically. Not all blue-collar jobs are needed at university level, while hyper-academicization can also be a problem. Finally, let us forget that the value of practical experience remains enormous. I'm sure the potential will grow. «university type» training for blue collars, but it will be more flexible, more practical, more market-related. In conclusion, we are talking about significant social changes where the gap between manual and intellectual labour will be reduced, some technical professions will gain higher prestige and income, and universities will open up to more different student profiles.
How ready is the Greek education system – from universities to lifelong learning – to go through the theoretical debate on the practical retraining of workers facing automation due to AI?
In Greek universities there are already 21 graduate programs in TN and data analytics and several are in the process of creation. So at the level of technical graduates of TN it does not seem for the time being that there is a substantial shortage. The problem is the effective integration of the TN into the curricula of other disciplines such as law, business administration, medicine, etc. This is necessary because all these professions are directly affected by the TN, while universities should immediately implement continuing education programmes for the training of workers' TN. Such programs we operate at Athens University of Economics through the lifelong learning centre for «Business transformation and IT» has excellent demand and we are planning a new program with reference to the integration of TN into the well-known business systems ERP and CRM.
Also, let us not forget that education itself is already changing rapidly because of artificial intelligence (TN). It is not just a 'digitalisation' of courses, but a reform of the very way we learn, teach and evaluate. The Greek AEI should therefore prepare for this new environment based on the following principles:
(1) TN to allow curriculums adapted to each student. Instead of a single syllabus the content will adapt to the student's level and rhythm, which will receive targeted feedback in real time, while knowledge gaps will be automatically detected.
(2) Classical written exams lose value when TN can easily answer questions. So join more projects and applied tasks, evaluate the learning process and not just the result, and more oral/interactive examinations.
(3) University education will not only be 3-5 years but forever. So universities should be gradually transformed so that it is not a brief phase in the early stages of our lives and become hobs of continuous education, with professional micro-credits (micro-credentials) and flexible online and hybrid programs.
I want to believe that TN will not replace the university, but force it to become more flexible, practical, focusing on thought rather than sterile knowledge.
What, in your opinion, would be the direct policy measures that Greece should take now: tax incentives for reskilling, changes in university programmes, active employment policies or a new framework for job protection against algorithmic administration?
In Greece we have about 700000 small and medium-sized enterprises in which it is necessary to increase their productivity to increase their competitiveness. About half of them concern professionals/scientists (such as accountants, lawyers, engineers, etc.) who produce content and intangible services. In these professional groups generative AI for automatic content production is widely used because it is easy to use known AI tools. We are already seeing a substantial increase in their productivity especially for simple repetitive work.
The problem is for small and medium-sized enterprises that are involved in trade and production, where procedures are more complex. Here entrepreneurs, due to limited resources and lack of specific knowledge, need multiple assistants daily and thus the AI. In other words, the inclusion of scenarios of IT assistants in the context of the day-to-day use of ERP and CRM systems, so that these systems become real decision-supporting and efficient operating tools. So I would suggest as the main government initiative to support through vouchers the massive introduction of AI scenarios into business information systems especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Also, it is necessary to immediately launch mass employee retraining programmes in the TN, but not generally and theoretically, but with specific scenarios of practical exploitation (general AI, agent AI, data analytics) by specific business sector (for example tourism, industry, wholesale) and by business function (for example accounting, production, marketing).
* George Dukidis is the head of the Electronic Commerce and Business Laboratory (ELTRUN) of the Department of Administrative Science and Technology at the Athens Economic University.
