In the evolving digital landscape, the term “artificial intelligence” (AI) is no longer an alien concept. What’s more intriguing is the advent of generative AI that’s poised to revolutionize various business sectors.

However, the inevitable question arises: Will the rise of generative AI pose a threat to the job market? As a futurist and Anticipatory Thinker, I propose that generative AI will not eliminate jobs but instead transform the nature of human work and create new roles that offer significant advantages for businesses in all industries!

In turn, this will lead to logical anticipatory action and launch organizations into the future in proactive ways.

Generative AI and How It Triggers Our Fears

Before even the most Anticipatory Leader reads the aforementioned declaration and tries to leverage generative AI to their organization’s advantage, let’s first take a step back here and define what generative AI is exactly.

In essence, generative AI represents a distinct subset within the broader realm of conventional artificial intelligence applications that are commonly encountered and recognized. Instead, it uses human input to understand and learn from queries in order to generate new content such as text, images, and other media.

ChatGPT from OpenAI is an instance of generative AI that serves as a prominent illustration in the real world. This emerging application has swiftly gained prominence in the digital realm. Essentially, ChatGPT operates by receiving inquiries or prompts from humans and utilizes existing datasets and past queries to generate content in response.

Unfortunately, many businesses and individuals are viewing ChatGPT and other such applications as a disruption — a threat to the status quo. They believe that jobs will be lost and whole industries disrupted. And while they aren’t entirely wrong, I do wish to challenge the overall negativity of that notion!

The Hard Trend of Generative AI

Generative AI is a Hard Trend without question, as it is a future certainty that it is not going away, will not slowdown in its development, and will only increase in usage and adaptation for all kinds of purposes, just as we have incorporated other types of AI into our lives already.

Bigger technology companies have already quickly adapted to the Hard Trend of generative AI, leveraging the Soft Trend of how generative AI is used to their advantage. For instance, Google recently created its own AI chatbot called Bard in response to ChatGPT, while Snapchat incorporated a generative AI application into its app called My AI.

As such, by not embracing this new technology, you are only opening your business up to disruption in both small and quantifiable ways.

Drive Innovation and Efficiency

One major step in the right direction is to stop viewing generative AI as something that will just fizzle and fall away eventually. The current application of generative AI in ChatGPT is only the beginning and may dissipate; however, more applications will arise, even right in your industry. It is up to you to look at it for what it really is: The future of driving innovation and efficiency.

Generative AI has the ability to significantly enhance innovation in product design and development. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data lightning fast in comparison to how the human mind processes it. In doing so, generative AI identifies patterns and generates innovative ideas that humans may overlook due to any number of factors, whether that be burnout or misunderstandings.

The Chinese company Haomo recently launched an AI driving platform called DriveGPT that is more efficiently predicting driver behavior and furthering the advancement of autonomous driving features. With this generative AI, DriveGPT can better synthesize data for more comprehensive cognitive decision-making by quickly generating numerous real-world driving scenarios.

Better Customer Service from Automated Technology

This use case can also be applied to other industries, streamlining processes by automating repetitive tasks that wear down the patience of a human being.

AI algorithms can generate reports, create content, or even code software, freeing up human workers for more creative and strategic roles. By reducing the time spent on mundane tasks, businesses ultimately increase productivity and efficiency in ways many wish existed years prior!

In the realm of customer service, generative AI is an iconic way to provide personalized interactions by leveraging customer data and predicting customer behavior. This is something that is currently being done by the company Cogito. AI-powered chatbots can handle multiple queries simultaneously, offer instant responses, learn from past interactions to improve future responses, and use a specific tone of voice and unique words.

Job Creation, Not Elimination

Especially with regard to that last example, I know there are many going “hey, that’s replacing my job. You said it wouldn’t eliminate jobs!”

In many cases, all generative AI eliminates is the current nature of some jobs. For example, while the demand for human presence in customer service careers will persist, the requirement to work overnight shifts to handle helpline inquiries will diminish.

The fear that generative AI will render humans jobless on all fronts is based on the misconception that generative AI is a replacement rather than a tool. While generative AI will indeed automate certain tasks, it does not necessarily lead to widespread job loss. As AI takes over repetitive tasks, it frees up human workers for roles that require unique human skills, including critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence.

Generative AI can aid in decision-making by providing data-driven insights quickly. In turn, businesses can make more informed decisions and use those results creatively! Now, humans can save their skills and energy for where it really counts while staying ahead of the competition.

It Takes All of Us

Strategic implementation of generative AI offers numerous benefits to businesses, encompassing innovation, efficiency, improved customer experience, and informed decision-making. Interestingly, the capacity of generative AI to personalize customer experiences aligns with my concept of anticipatory thinking.

However, the crucial aspect, particularly when utilizing it in an anticipatory manner, is to perceive generative AI as a tool, much like an office worker views their email or a plumber views a pipe wrench. The integration of generative AI should aim to augment human skills instead of replacing them. This initiative begins with you, as a business leader, seeking ways to incorporate AI and leverage its potential alongside your workforce, without eliminating routine tasks or downsizing your team.

As generative AI transforms the landscape of work, jobs will naturally evolve, and job descriptions will undergo changes. However, the demand for human talent will forever endure. Therefore, it is essential to embrace an anticipatory mindset today, seeking innovative ways to harness the potential of both human capabilities and generative AI.

Take your business to new heights with Daniel Burrus’s strategy session on Unlocking the Power of AI. Assess your processes, identify areas for AI impact, and overcome potential challenges. Engage your team and gain an understanding of the benefits and hurdles of AI integration. Don’t miss this opportunity to unlock the power of AI and propel your business forward.

New listings have hit their lowest level of any early June on record, limiting home sales and keeping prices afloat

New listings of homes for sale fell 25% year over year to their lowest level of any early June on record. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (www.redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage, which analyzed new listings of homes for sale during the four weeks ending June 4.

The continued lack of new listings has pushed the total number of homes on the market down 5% year over year to its lowest level on record for early June.

Elevated mortgage rates are driving the inventory shortage, with the daily average hitting 6.94% on June 7, near its highest level in two decades. The vast majority of homeowners have a mortgage rate below 6%, discouraging them from listing their home and giving up their relatively low rate.

Limited inventory is keeping national home-price declines relatively modest, with the typical U.S. home price down 1.6% year over year. That’s the smallest dip in three months and half the size of April’s 3.2% drop, which was the biggest in at least a decade. Home prices are still increasing in some parts of the country. The median U.S. asking price is unchanged from a year ago after several weeks of declines, indicating that sellers in at least some metro areas are noticing that they can command favorable prices.

In addition to propping up prices, the scarcity of listings is limiting purchases; pending home sales are down 17%, continuing a yearlong streak of double-digit drops. But early-stage homebuying demand continues to hold up, with Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index—a measure of requests for tours and other services from Redfin agents—near its highest level in a year. That indicates that would-be buyers are out there and may make an offer when mortgage rates decline and/or more homes are listed.

“Homes priced under $500,000 are flying off the market because buyers in that price range don’t have many options,” said Sacramento Redfin Premier agent David Orr. “I've been working with one first-time homebuyer for about a year, and she’s adjusted her search as rates have risen. Now that mortgage rates are close to 7%, she’s looking at lower-priced, smaller homes. But the problem we’re facing now is competition: In that lower price range, it takes many misses before you get a hit. She just made an offer nearly $30,000 above asking price for a home listed at $429,000, but she lost out because it had four other offers. I’m advising buyers to get their loan pre-approved and look at homes under budget so they’re prepared to go above asking price.”

Leading indicators of homebuying activity:

• For the week ending June 1, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.79%, up from 6.57% the week before–that’s the biggest weekly increase since October. It’s also the highest rate since November.
• Mortgage-purchase applications during the week ending June 2 decreased 2% from a week earlier, seasonally adjusted. Purchase applications were down 27% from a year earlier.
• The seasonally adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index was up slightly from a week earlier during the week ending June 4. It was up 3% from a year earlier, marking just the second annual increase in over a year. Demand was dropping at this time in 2022 as mortgage rates rose.
• Google searches for “homes for sale” were up 7% from a month earlier during the week ending June 3, and essentially flat from a year earlier.
• Touring activity as of June 4 was up 16% from the start of the year, compared with a 2% decline at the same time last year, according to home tour technology company ShowingTime. Tours declined during this time last year as mortgage rates shot up.

Key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas:

Unless otherwise noted, the data in this report covers the four-week period ending June 4. Redfin’s weekly housing market data goes back through 2015. For bullets that include metro-level breakdowns, Redfin analyzed the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.

• The median home sale price was $379,463, down 1.6% from a year earlier, the smallest decline in three months. Price declines have been shrinking for the last six weeks.
• Home-sale prices declined in 29 metros, with the biggest drops in Austin, TX (-13.4% YoY), Oakland, CA (-11.9%), Las Vegas (-9%), San Francisco (-8.7%) and Phoenix (-7.9%).
• Sale prices increased most in Cincinnati (9.2%), Miami (8%), Milwaukee (8%), Fort Lauderdale, FL (5.8%) and Virginia Beach, VA (4.8%).
• The median asking price of newly listed homes was $397,475, unchanged from a year earlier.
• The monthly mortgage payment on the median-asking-price home hit a new record high of $2,651 at a 6.79% mortgage rate, the average for the week ending June 1. That’s up 14% ($320) from a year earlier.
• Pending home sales were down 16.6% year over year, on par with declines over the last month.
• Pending home sales fell in all metros Redfin analyzed. They declined most in Seattle (-31.7% YoY), Milwaukee (-29.5%), San Diego (-28.4%), Portland, OR (-27.7%), and Providence, RI (-26.7%).
• New listings of homes for sale fell 25% year over year, one of the biggest declines since May 2020.
• New listings declined in all metros Redfin analyzed. They fell most in Las Vegas (-42.3% YoY), Phoenix (-40.9%), Seattle (-40.4%), Oakland (-39.8%) and San Diego (-37.2%).
• Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) dropped 4.6% from a year earlier, marking just the second decline in 12 months. The first was a week earlier, when active listings declined 1.7%. Active listings also inched down from a month earlier; typically, they post month-over-month increases at this time of year.
• Months of supply—a measure of the balance between supply and demand, calculated by the number of months it would take for the current inventory to sell at the current sales pace—was 2.6 months, up from 2.1 months a year earlier. Four to five months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions.
• 33.5% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, down from 38% a year earlier.
• Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 28 days, the shortest span since September. That’s up from a record low of 18 days a year earlier.
• 35.2% of homes sold above their final list price. That’s the highest share since September but is down from 54% a year earlier.
• On average, 5.2% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up from 3.9% a year earlier.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their final asking prices, was 99.8%. That’s the highest level since August but is down from 102.4% a year earlier.

To read the full report, including charts, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-new-listings-lowest-level-on-record