A few decades ago, the emergence of robotics and automatization was threatening to “kill” numerous blue-collar jobs, particularly those production and factory related. While the automatization did replace some factory positions, it also opened new ones. At the time, white-collar workers were sleeping peacefully.
All of a sudden, in November 2022, the now well-known ChatGPT appeared, storming the internet almost immediately. The internet community was incessantly checking, testing, and analyzing its capabilities, only to wonder at what it’s capable of. What’s more, its applications have been growing on a regular basis, with new use cases coming up almost every day.
The “will AI replace my job scenario” has started looming, but this time blue-collar workers are not endangered. It’s white-collar workers who are now fearing their jobs might be in jeopardy. Even experts claim that AI might imperil particular positions.
Still, before you start freaking out that AI will steal your job, it’s worth taking into consideration that the goal of artificial intelligence and automatization is not to take over your position, but to boost your efficiency and productivity. AI isn’t, at least not presently, capable of functioning independently. With this in mind, certain jobs will not be eliminated by AI, but they will certainly be altered drastically.
Decade-old research
Ten years ago, in 2013, two academics at Oxford University, Michael Osborne and Carl Frey conducted research on the susceptibility of different jobs to automatization. The duo anticipated that even 47% of positions in the USA might disappear owing to artificial intelligence. While their prediction proved false, the methodology they implemented could be re-employed for evaluating what jobs might be in peril today.
The two academics based their study on present and future trends in automatization, accounting for nine factors:
- Social intelligence
- Negotiation
- Persuasion
- Helping and looking after others
- Uniqueness and originality
- Fine arts
- Finger and manual skills
- The necessity of working in a small space.
Considering these, as many as 16 occupations are at high risk of service automatization sooner than you might think, whereas 11 might be replaced sometime in the future. Delve into to see what professions are most vulnerable.
White-collar jobs
Office jobs are possibly the ones that are in greatest danger of being automatized. What was once done by humans could now be performed by AI with greater precision and less time spent on a task.
Bookkeeping and data entry
The repetitious work and organizational abilities required for bookkeeping and data entry are progressively being replaced by machines. Today, many company processes may be automated, and the data collected and saved by these devices is frequently more accurate than that entered by people.
Source: Freepik
The learning curve for data entry and bookkeeping is typically short and doesn’t call for any specialized training. In addition, since robots work faster than people do, labor costs for vendor and customer management are reduced.
Market research analysts
Market research is another field prone to automatization. Based on the corporate objectives, AI-driven market research can enhance project portfolio management, marketing strategies, and success rates.
In fact, to gather and evaluate data from a variety of sources, such as social media and online forums, research analysts are already employing AI techniques. AI enables them to learn more about customers’ desires faster than they might by using more conventional methods.
Financial analysts and advisors
AI may have an impact on positions in the personal finance industry that require handling substantial amounts of numerical data, such as financial analysts, and personal financial counselors.
Namely, AI is able to recognize market patterns, highlight which portfolio assets are performing better and worse and communicate all those facts. Later on, it can implement many other data forms to forecast a more favorable investment mix.
Customer service
Customer service is yet another area in which investing in tools for robotic process automation will pay off. The algorithms already have the capacity to manage customers and respond to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs). Another advantage of automatized customer service executives is that they can work 24/7 without needing a break.
A possible issue with this is that customer management requires a lot of human interaction. While younger generations are considerably more at ease communicating with chatbots and other digital assistants, older generations may still prefer conversing to a live human representative.
As a result, robot customer service representatives may not completely replace their human counterparts but only enhance them.
Proofreading
Grammar, syntax, and spelling mistakes in texts have long been fixed via robotic process automation. Just remember tools such as Grammarly which automate common grammar corrections and cut down on the time needed for human proofreaders.
Still, while proofreaders can often be replaced by AI, editors are still typically held by humans. It is crucial to remember that a person must still decide whether or not an issue has to be fixed in the end.
Protection and security professions
Soldiers
Military operations and battlefields of the future will be increasingly automated. Highly autonomous robots and drones will operate on future battlefields, doing far riskier military tasks such as surveillance and exploration.
Another operational feature created by the US Military is the security robot, which can essentially be programmed to recognize and react to threats.
Security guards
The private security department is where the security robot performs one of its most crucial tasks. A security robot can be successfully programmed to patrol a space and react to dangers. As a result, businesses looking for ways to boost security while also saving expenses may find the operation component of the security robot to be extremely helpful.
Transportation and manufacture jobs
This group of occupations includes several professions that could highly benefit from automatization. These range from speeding up repetitive processes to providing safer working environments. Though some of these are partially automatized, full automatization could take such positions to a whole new level.
Manufacturing
Automation of the production process is a good fit for the repetitive duties in the sector. Operations, maintenance, and quality control of machines are common tasks in manufacturing industries. Since these operations are simple to automate, incorporating AI into the production process can increase productivity.
While autonomous robots cannot completely replace people in the manufacturing sector, their abilities have allowed for the elimination of many of the more laborious processes.
Construction workers
Working on a construction site can be extremely demanding and dangerous to humans. Robots with AI capabilities, on the other hand, can work more swiftly and safely, lowering the possibility of accidents occurring on a job site.
Construction is a non-cognitive and thinking skill that autonomous robots excel at. They can work longer than humans and, in some situations, carry out tasks faster since they are better at performing repetitive tasks without getting weary or distracted.
Bus and taxi drivers
Typical commercial challenges of the transportation industry may soon be completely transformed by autonomous cars. Taxi and bus drivers may soon face competition from AI-enabled self-driving vehicles that can drive more safely and accurately than humans when they enter the public domain.
Source: Canterbury AI
These autonomous cars can nonetheless deliver secure and effective transportation services in the future, even though they might not have the same client interactions as their human counterparts. Still, one of the biggest advantages of self-driving cars will probably be shorter wait times and increased safety.
Truck drivers
Truck drivers’ robotic processes are becoming exponentially more automated. Robots equipped with AI may be posing a serious threat to truck drivers in the near future. Trucks using driverless technology are already more productive, dependable, and economical than trucks with human drivers.
Automating professional services involves:
- Systems for automated check-in.
- Organizing resources.
- GPS and route optimization software can be used to determine the best routes for trucks.
Courier services
Client interactions are a part of a courier service’s range of activities. Customer experiences can be enhanced by using AI to automate order processing and delivery statuses. That makes it possible for the courier service to complete orders more rapidly and deliver them on schedule.
The business applications, however, don’t end there. By functioning autonomously in warehouses and obviating the need for human labor, AI-enabled robots and software can help accelerate the delivery process. Robotics training may in the near future considerably increase the speed and effectiveness of courier services’ operations.
“Front-end” and “back-end” jobs
AI or robots being the first point of interaction still sounds quite futuristic and improbable, right? Well, not as much as you think.
Receptionist
Reception is another area where the importance of interpersonal engagement might be waning. Automatic voice recognition systems can take calls, screen them, and, if necessary, route them to the right agent or department. These organizational capabilities and customer management skills are being improved by AI. If not already, AI will soon take the place of customer service people in answering assistance questions.
Chefs
Robots preparing your food? No way! Well, after meeting a bot chef, you might change your mind. With Samsung Bot Chef, robotics powered by artificial intelligence (AI) recognizes and comprehends actions to improve as a robotic assistant, chef, and companion, managing whatever that is thrown at it.
Jobs in medicine and pharmacy
Robotics has been included in specific medical procedures for a while now. However, with the advancement of AI and technology, we might be seeing more and more robots replacing medical workers.
Radiologists
Medicine requires a high level of knowledge and expertise. Hence, you might find it tough to imagine robots instead of medical practitioners. Yet, the advancement of AI tools is already helping radiologists to make more precise diagnoses, identify critical indicators throughout treatment programs, and enhance the standard of healthcare services.
Many medical robots can operate autonomously without running the risk of contaminating a facility because sterile procedures are crucial in healthcare facilities. Moreover, these sterile procedures can be used in surgery, pharmacology, and pharmacy services, among other branches of medicine.
Pharmaceutical Drug Designing
A robot psychiatrist may still be a few years off. However, AI is already being applied in the pharmaceutical sector to assist in the development of medications for disorders including depression, schizophrenia, and autism. Large amounts of clinical trial data can be analyzed by algorithms much more quickly than by human researchers.
By examining patient data and creating new treatment alternatives, a robot psychiatrist may potentially enhance the production process. This might increase the efficacy of these treatments while also enabling pharmaceutical corporations to make medications more efficiently.
Jobs that AI may eliminate in the future
You haven’t found your job on the list? Good for you. Still, this doesn’t imply that your profession is completely safe. There is a possibility it might be impacted in the future.
Media jobs
ChatGPT and similar types of AI might have an impact on all media positions, including those in advertising, technical writing, journalism, and any position involving content creation. This is so because AI is proficient at reading, writing, and comprehending text-based data.
Marketing managers
When marketing will be completely automated is still up in the air according to industry analysts. Robots struggle to mimic the emotional intelligence, cognitive reasoning, and wide range of leadership abilities needed to excel in marketing.
To better target and engage their customers, though, marketers are already using AI to analyze consumer data.
Writers
Many authors are still dubious about the significance of AI in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), despite significant progress in the discipline. The business uses for this automated professional service are obvious: AI can analyze massive amounts of data to develop individualized marketing, content creation, and e-commerce plans.
The quality of AI-based writing will significantly increase with the release of OpenAI ChatGPT and the developments in NLP. After a few years with ChatGPT improvements, it will be exceedingly challenging to distinguish between human and artificial content.
Editors
Editors are renowned for their emotional intelligence and sense of comprehension. They devote endless hours to checking the language, organization, and tone of the material. Yet, the sophistication of editing tools powered by AI is rising. These programs can spot writing mistakes and offer edits that human editors would overlook.
These solutions are crucial for businesses that need to produce high-quality content on a tight timetable because of the business difficulties they address. Nonetheless, the final draft must still be reviewed and amended by a person at this time.
Artists and graphic designers
We once believed that only the human brain possessed the emotional intelligence necessary to spend countless hours in the studio and create works of art. The advent of technology has altered this, though. AI-driven art creation systems are capable of accurately recreating realistic sculptures, paintings, and other works of art.
Source: Freepik
Though these technologies might not yet be able to completely replace human artists, they are catching up swiftly and are likely to do so in the upcoming years.
Scientific jobs
It could be said that science, software development, and robotics are closely related. But could you imagine robots replacing scientists and developers someday?
Scientists
The brilliant brains of scientists are open to critical thinking. We may soon witness AI-powered robots performing many of the duties currently carried out by scientists thanks to neural networks that are designed after the human brain. Due to the capabilities of AI, research and development, data analysis, lab automation, and other fields are all evolving.
AI may be able to resolve a variety of complicated issues that people have long grappled with using various machine learning techniques, such as unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning concepts.
Sofware developers
AI can already play a significant role in software development owing to technological breakthroughs. in comparison with mechanical activities, creating complex software calls for creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. The reliance on technology in this industry makes it a good candidate for AI automation in the future.
The automation of software testing and deployment by AI will enable development teams to accomplish their objectives more quickly and with fewer iterations.
Engineering jobs
If it’s possible for AI to replace scientists, why wouldn’t it be so for engineers? Besides, it’s only a matter of time when AI will eliminate jobs of construction workers. Engineers, brace yourselves, AI is coming.
Architects and civil engineers
Despite the fact that they are specialists in their sector, architects deal with crucial tasks where mistakes can be highly expensive. Robots with AI capabilities may examine complex data sets, including patterns of material stress and structural loads as well as temperature analysis. With the aid of this data, exact designs that outperform human architects in terms of cost and dependability can be produced.
Urban designers
Robotic process automation and comparable cutting-edge technology free up more time for urban designers to concentrate on overarching challenges. Consider planning for transportation and population control. From building to upkeep and repair, the production process for urban design is advancing in speed, effectiveness, and cost.
In reality, several cities are already utilizing AI-enabled robots to streamline processes and lower costs in public services and traffic control.
Legal jobs
Experts in their field, lawyers need to have both strategic and emotional intelligence. While AI may not be able to change the law, it can automate many of the routine operations that take up the majority of lawyers’ time. Robots with AI capabilities can help with professional service automation by quickly scanning through millions of papers for pertinent data and investigating past legal precedents.
Source: Freepik
Teaching jobs
Presently, teachers across the globe are concerned about their students implementing ChatGPT for writing essays and doing homework. Soon, however, teachers might be worried about their job security.
Teachers are frequently held up as the model for effective leadership. Their human talents and emotional intelligence may be challenging for machines to match. Nevertheless, there are currently certain robot varieties that can offer kids individualized, interactive learning opportunities.
These robots can assist in involving students in their education and give teachers immediate feedback on how effectively their pupils are picking up new material.
The bottom line
The labor market and future workforce are fast evolving as AI continues to shake up many industries. Business difficulties that were previously too complex, expensive, or time-consuming for people to solve will be addressed by automation in the future. While some professions may completely vanish, others will be transformed by cutting-edge automation and new technology.
