Workers who have AI expertise can command salaries up to 40% higher than those who don't, according to a new study.
Research from the Oxford Internet Institute and the University of Copenhagen found that employees with artificial intelligence skills are paid 21% more on average, and that certain skills could result in a bump of as much as 40%.
The study, which surveyed 25,000 freelance workers, showed that knowledge of machine learning, open-source AI software, and deep learning salaries were the skills employers valued the most.
"Our findings have profound implications for individuals, businesses, and policymakers," said Dr Fabian Stephany, one of the study's authors.
"By recognizing the value of complementary skills, we can better guide workers on their individual reskilling journeys in times of technological change."
"What is the Price of a Skill? The Value of Complementarity" was published in the academic journal "Research Policy."
The findings come as employers and workers grapple with the impact of generative AI following the launch of ChatGPT last year.
Speaking at the Google Cloud Next conference in London earlier this month, Unilever chief technology officer Adam Raeburn-Jones said AI skills will be a crucial factor in future hiring decisions. Jobseekers who know their way around the new technology would have a natural advantage, he believed.
"The people who do really well will be the ones who learn how to harness the technology the best," Raeburn-Jones said. "The next generation will probably pick that up quicker than those of us already there."
Stephan Pretorius, CTO of advertising agency WPP, said his company was now hiring people with specialist AI skills, and that employers would have to battle to attract young workers with AI expertise.
"The skills that they are coming into the job market with now are fundamentally different than ten years ago, and I don't think the learning paths are going to be the same," he said.
"The people entering the industry are coming into the workplace at ease with really sophisticated technology. Young people are not naive, they understand that this is a fundamental shift in how we work, and they will start to go for companies that will help them access these tools."
Oded Netzer, a business professor at Columbia University, told Insider that prioritization of workers who can use AI was already happening in sectors such as coding and programming, and would only become more common.
"People who learn how to use AI quickly will be in high demand," he said. "Workers who don't catch up will find that they will not be replaced by AI, but rather replaced by someone who knows what to do with it."
