New reports into the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) showed incidents linked to ethical breaches have more than doubled in just two years.
At the same time, entry-level job opportunities have been shrinking, partly due to the spread of this automation.
AI is moving from the margins to the mainstream at extraordinary speed and both workplaces and universities are struggling to keep up.
Tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are now being used to draft emails, analyse data, write code, mark essays and even decide who gets a job interview.
Alongside this rapid rollout, a March report from McKinsey, one by the OECD in July and an earlier Rand report warned of a sharp increase in ethical controversies — from cheating scandals in exams to biased recruitment systems and cybersecurity threats — leaving regulators and institutions scrambling to respond.
The McKinsey survey said almost eight in 10 organisations now used AI in at least one business function, up from half in 2022.
While adoption promises faster workflows and lower costs, many companies deploy AI without clear policies. Universities face similar struggles, with students increasingly relying on AI for assignments and exams while academic rules remain inconsistent, it said.
The OECD’s AI Incidents and Hazards Monitor reported that ethical and operational issues involving AI have more than doubled since 2022.
Common concerns included accountability — who is responsible when AI errs; transparency — whether users understand AI decisions; and fairness, whether AI discriminates against certain groups.
Many models operated as “black boxes”, producing results without explanation, making errors hard to detect and correct, it said.
In workplaces, AI is used to screen CVs, rank applicants, and monitor performance. Yet studies show AI trained on historical data can replicate biases, unintentionally favouring certain groups.
Rand reported that AI was also used to manipulate information, influence decisions in sensitive sectors, and conduct cyberattacks.
Meanwhile, 41 per cent of professionals report that AI-driven change is harming their mental health, with younger workers feeling most anxious about job security.
LinkedIn data showed that entry-level roles in the US have fallen by more than 35 per cent since 2023, while 63 per cent of executives expected AI to replace tasks currently done by junior staff.
Aneesh Raman, LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer, described this as “a perfect storm” for new graduates: Hiring freezes, economic uncertainty and AI disruption, as the BBC reported August 26.
LinkedIn forecasts that 70 per cent of jobs will look very different by 2030.
Recent Stanford research confirmed that employment among early-career workers in AI-exposed roles has dropped 13 per cent since generative AI became widespread, while more experienced workers or less AI-exposed roles remained stable.
Companies are adjusting through layoffs rather than pay cuts, squeezing younger workers out, it found.
In Belgium, AI ethics and fairness debates have intensified following a scandal in Flanders’ medical entrance exams.
Investigators caught three candidates using ChatGPT during the test.
Separately, 19 students filed appeals, suspecting others may have used AI unfairly after unusually high pass rates: Some 2,608 of 5,544 participants passed but only 1,741 could enter medical school. The success rate jumped to 47 per cent from 18.9 per cent in 2024, raising concerns about fairness and potential AI misuse.
Flemish education minister Zuhal Demir condemned the incidents, saying students who used AI had “cheated themselves, the university and society”.
Exam commission chair Professor Jan Eggermont noted that the higher pass rate might also reflect easier questions, which were deliberately simplified after the previous year’s exam proved excessively difficult, as well as the record number of participants, rather than AI-assisted cheating alone.
French-speaking universities, in the other part of the country, were not concerned by this scandal, as they still conduct medical entrance exams entirely on paper, something Demir said he was considering going back to.
