Will the CFA Charter decline in professional relevance due to advancements in AI Agents?

Water Cooler Careers
#1

I listened to a podcast predicting that advancements in artificial intelligence could render accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, tax analysts, and similar roles obsolete. Apparently, AI agents now possess near-expert-level knowledge and may soon displace most cognitive-based jobs.

Could a firm purchase a Tesla robot, install the CFA Charter AI Agent to run financial models and perform tasks like portfolio re-balancing and optimization, prepare coffee, walk the firm’s mascot, clean toilets, and operate without providing a 401(k) match, healthcare benefits, or bathroom breaks?

Thoughts?

#2

My answer to your question would be “yes”.
The professions least exposed to AI are probably those with legal monopolies, which will vary by jurisdiction.
A listed company has to have their annual report signed by an accountant not an AI.
No doubt there are some aspects of pensions that are legally required to be performed by an actuary not an AI.
And so on.

I’ve seen news articles that tell me that AI is better at diagnosing patients than a physician, and that a physician adds nothing to the process because a human aided by an AI does not do as well as an AI by itself. But an AI cannot write a prescription.

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#3

Last week I came across a study that claimed that AI’s impact on productivity is massively exaggerated. Can’t find the article anymore. I’m starting to lean towards the view that AI will transform many professions but it won’t lead to massive amounts of workforce to become obsolete.

At my current employee (a-too-big-to-fail-giant), I’ve noticed how bad and slow AI adoption is. A key issue is data not being compiled in any single location but being dispersed all over the place - so basically we have huuuge amounts of data but AI cant reach it because it’s not centralized anywhere.

I hope AI won’t lead to massive disruptions. I quite like my cushy 9-5 job doing (surprisingly) mundane ■■■■ and pretending I’m worth my paycheck.

However, in the big picture I hope we’re facing a massive productivity leap and growth dislocation. The global big picture trends (population decline, stagnating productivity, global warming, sovereign debt loads) are of scale that without a positive productivity disruption we are all (a few exemptions incl. the US) ■■■■■■■ cooked, and can say our pensions, societal cohesion, elderly care and economic growth goodbye.

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#4

Scratch that. Here it is : Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects by Anders Humlum, Emilie Vestergaard :: SSRN

Summary, courtesy of Chat GPT :smiley:

AI has not significantly improved productivity — at least not yet:
A study of 25,000 Danish employees (across 7,000 organizations) found no meaningful impact on wages or working hours.
Adoption has been surprisingly fast, but the benefits aren’t visible in monetary terms.

AI is creating more new tasks than it eliminates:
For example, teachers often face more work due to students secretly using AI — requiring extra oversight and judgment.
Prompt writing and validating AI-generated outputs also consume time.

Productivity gains remain modest:
Average time savings were only 2.8%.
While lab studies have shown 15–50% gains, these results have not translated into real-world environments.

In some cases, AI may reduce work quality:
According to Boston Consulting Group, some employees begin relying too heavily on AI and stop thinking critically themselves.

Large companies are tapping the brakes:
Johnson & Johnson tested AI in 900 use cases — only 10–15% generated around 80% of the benefits.
Salesforce and The Information report that most AI investments haven’t yielded significant financial returns.

FOMO drives adoption despite weak results:
In a recent IBM survey of 2,000 executives, only 25% said their AI initiatives had met ROI expectations.
Still, optimism remains high for long-term benefits.

:compass: Conclusion:

AI has not yet lived up to the high expectations placed on it. Its impact has been slower, narrower, and harder to quantify than public discourse suggests. Rather than eliminating work, it often creates new kinds of tasks — and in the wrong context, it can even degrade performance. Companies fear missing out on the AI wave, but few have figured out how to use it profitably.

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#5

to add to that, a study appeared a few days ago
People who use AI at work are perceived by colleagues as lazier and less competent, study finds