The world's wealthiest nations must urgently prepare for the impact of an imminent "AI revolution" that will change jobs, create new ones and make others disappear, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), with tools that can generate essays and create images and even pass medical exams, have raised concerns that it could replace whole sectors of the workforce through automation.

In its 2023 Employment Outlook, the 38-member organisation said there was little evidence of significant negative effects on employment from AI "so far."

Jobs with the highest risk of being automated make up 27 percent of the labor force on average in OECD countries, with eastern European countries most exposed, the Paris-based organisation said in the report. 

Jobs at highest risk were defined as those using more than 25 of the 100 skills and abilities that AI experts consider can be easily automated.

Meanwhile, three out of five workers fear that they could lose their job to AI over the next 10 years, the OECD found in a survey last year. The survey covered 5,300 workers in 2,000 firms spanning manufacturing and finance sectors in seven OECD countries.

The survey was carried out before the explosive emergence of generative AI like ChatGPT.

Despite the anxiety over the advent of AI, two-thirds of workers already working with it said that automation has made their jobs less dangerous or tedious.

"How AI will ultimately impact workers in the workplace and whether the benefits will outweigh the risks will depend on the policy actions we take," OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann told a news conference.

"Governments must help workers to prepare for the changes and benefit from the opportunities AI will bring about," he said.

Minimum wages and collective bargaining could help ease the pressure that AI could put on wages while governments and regulators need to ensure workers' rights are not compromised, the OECD said.

(With input from agencies)