When AI Meets Academic and Career Guidance in Quebec: Changes in the Workplace and New Professional Challenges
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Career guidance counsellors, Career Challenges, Meaning of Work, Dehumanisation, Digital Inequalities, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Transformation of Work
Abstract
The profession of career guidance counsellor is undergoing rapid transformation driven by the rise of AI, within a context already characterised by multiple challenges, such as equity issues, labour shortages and changes in the labour market. Despite the accelerating pace of digital transformation, little research has documented how professionals experience the integration of AI into their practice. This descriptive study examines how AI is transforming the work of career counsellors by documenting its implementation, uses and effects on the organisation of work. An online survey was conducted amongst 314 members of the Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation du Québec. The results show that the adoption of AI is already underway, particularly for word processing, visual and audio tasks (43.9 per cent), whilst applications that replace tasks or support decision-making remain under-utilised (9.8 per cent). AI is associated with greater autonomy and convenience, but it also leads to increased complexity in the workplace, fears of the profession becoming dehumanised, and ethical concerns. AI appears to be gradually but profoundly transforming the practice of career counsellors, generating as many opportunities as risks, and highlighting inequalities between sectors and client groups.
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References
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