Zhanar Sabazova is a certified artificial intelligence specialist, an MBA in AI, and a PR professional in the tech industry. In an exclusive interview with El.kz, Zhanar spoke about the capabilities of AI, future risks, deepfakes, cybersecurity, and what awaits the labor market in the era of rapid technological development.

Artificial intelligence is actively transforming the world, but it is important to understand that today’s AI is still not capable of fully replacing humans. As Zhanar Sabazova notes, we are dealing with generative artificial intelligence, while true human replacement will only become possible with the development of agent-based AI. The key difference lies in the ability to make independent decisions. For now, the term “synthetic employee” has appeared in Western media, but full-fledged digital worker counterparts have not yet been created.

Impact of AI on the labor market

According to the IMF, 40% of global employment will be affected by artificial intelligence in the future, and a World Economic Forum report states that about 6 out of 10 employees will encounter the impact of AI by 2027. This does not mean that people will be completely replaced, but it does mean that new skills will be required to meet the demands of the labor market.

A GitHub experiment showed that development teams using Copilot write code 55% faster than those who do not use AI.

“There will be a fundamental change when a person who knows how to use artificial intelligence tools and a person who does not will be compared in the labor market. And, of course, the one who can use them will win. Employers assess business efficiency. A GitHub experiment recorded that a team of developers writing an HTTP server in JavaScript completed their work 55% faster using Copilot than a team that did not use artificial intelligence”, Zhanar Sabazova notes.

AI as a tool for process integration

Many people think that AI is limited to creating images through tools like Midjourney. In reality, it is a much broader instrument that allows businesses to accelerate workflows and integrate data. For example, financial companies already use AI to analyze databases and automatically generate dashboards in Excel by connecting via APIs to corporate systems. In the HR field, AI can process millions of résumés, optimizing the work of recruiters.

“Artificial intelligence is something far greater. It allows processes to be integrated and significantly speeds up work results”, Sabazova emphasizes.

Education and training

Singapore and Finland are examples of countries that are actively implementing AI education for the general population. In Singapore, schoolchildren and students are taught how to use AI responsibly, while Finland runs the “Elements of AI” program, which 1% of the population has already completed. Special attention is paid to involving elderly people — this increases the level of cyber literacy and reduces the risks of fraud through deepfakes.

“If the population does not have a certain level of cyber literacy, it becomes a victim of scammers,” Zhanar notes.

Risks and social engineering

AI creates new forms of fraud. There are known cases where criminals used deepfakes and voice avatars to trick  employees into transferring millions of dollars without hacking the company’s IT systems. Zhanar Sabazova recommends introducing code words to verify identity during financial or confidential requests.

“There should be at least one basic verification stage in such video calls — at least a code word. This is your small insurance that you are really talking to your close person and not to a чужой avatar” she says.

In addition, AI can generate false information. The effectiveness of responses directly depends on the quality of the prompt and the accuracy of instructions: the role of the model, references to sources, and the wording of the question. The better the prompt is prepared, the higher the probability of receiving a correct answer.

Which professions is AI already replacing?

Some professions are already actively integrating AI. Managers and recruiters note that AI skills are becoming mandatory. For example, the company “Sephio Glova” trains employees in prompt engineering to keep up with the working speed of its U.S. office.

At the same time, creative professions such as journalism use AI for automated news broadcasting through avatars, which reduces the workload of employees and saves resources. News anchors in South Korea are already using virtual avatars to deliver information, allowing changes to text and visual design without human involvement.

Security and Privacy

Using AI in personal life requires caution. Models are trained on user data, so it is important to use privacy settings, disable data storage, and carefully formulate requests. The European Union has adopted the AI Act, which requires organizations to train employees in working with AI before implementing such technologies.

“If you train teams, it is like a kind of vaccination — it raises the level of qualifications not only in the industry but in society as a whole,” Sabazova notes.

Functional literacy in age of AI

Zhanar Sabazova emphasizes the need for mass AI literacy training. This includes schoolchildren, students, working adults, and the elderly. Just as computer literacy was once essential, today it is vital to understand how to use AI in order not to become a victim of cyber fraud and to remain competitive in the labor market.

The next stage in the evolution of AI is agent-based artificial intelligence capable of making independent decisions. The emergence of such models will lead to the appearance of “synthetic employees,” raising new ethical issues and new requirements for human competencies in working with AI.