I have been saving some articles I’ve read, wanting to comment on them here on my JibberJobber blog. This one seems perfect: ChatGPT may be coming for our jobs. Here’ are the 10 roles AI is most likely to replace.
Last year, in January, I stared at my screen wondering what my job and income was going to be. I stared in February and in March, and then going into April I had to pull myself out of a funk to actually get some work done. I was seeing ChatGPT become so powerful, even in it’s infancy, that I could imagine that very quickly we would not have a need for authors, content/course creators, even marketers. I’d say I spend most of my time in one of those three areas.
Was I getting phased out? Was I becoming obsolete, like the old LPs that you play on record players?
It was a scary, almost depressing time to think about what I’ve been building, who I’ve been becoming, and wondering if I was going to become a victim of technology. And that’s even before I found these “10 roles AI is most likely to replace” articles.
Th article is only a couple of weeks old. It comes across as scary, like scare-tactic scary, but at the same time we’ve been seeing some significant layoffs and AI seems to be one of the reasons for the layoffs. Of course, it could just be over hiring, bad management, economy issues.
Having said all that, I feel that we are at the beginning of a massive technological shift where AI becomes normal, more infused into our daily lives, and used to do certain tasks. The article about 10 roles AI is most likely to replace says… drum roll…
10 Roles AI Is Most Likely to Replace
- Tech jobs: coders, computer programmers, software engineers, data analysts
- Media jobs: advertising, content creation, technical writing, journalism
- Legal industry: paralegals, legal assistants
- Market research analysts
- Teachers
- Finance jobs (financial analysts, personal financial advisors)
- Traders
- Graphic designers
- Accountants
- Customer service agents
You’ll have to read the full article to see their commentary. My first thought is that some of those aren’t roles, they are almost industries!
My second thought is that were there are hardships and problems, there are opportunities. Can you learn to use AI in a way that you become more marketable? If you are in tech, can you figure out how to integrate generative AI into your applications (<– Pluralsight blog post by my buddy Xavier Morera)?
There will be businesses, value models, even companies built around this newfangled technology. You can hang your head in depression, like I did last year, wondering how this is going to “move your cheese,” or you can look for opportunities and grow with the changes. Or, ride the wave of technology.
I’ve been watching this space for over a year. There is still a lot of cool stuff that is coming. I don’t think this is in any way a fad. However, we aren’t seeing mass, unprecedented layoffs because AI has made too many white collar jobs obsolete. The world is still trying to figure out how to use AI, what the constraints are, and what we can really do with it.
We’re also trying to figure out if we like what we see. Do you like chatting with a non-human chatbot? Do you appreciate the art created by AI, or is it obviously computer-generated without any human intervention (except the prompts), and a turnoff? I know there are personal opinions around this.
I think the massive changes are going to take a little while before we see them, and their impact in our careers. But I’d definitely advise you to prepare for changes. Learn AI. Learn what it is, what it can do. Imagine how it might help you do your job better. Play with it and get comfortable with it. Rather than fearing it, embrace it.
The job you might be doing ten years from now might not even be conceptualized right now. That’s mind blowing, but then I think about what I’m doing and some of the stuff I do wasn’t on anyone’s mind, except sci-fi writers, when I was in school.
There will be opportunities… can you find them? Can you adapt with these changes?
If you are in tech, again, read this article:
If you are concerned about your career, make sure you network (use JibberJobber to help keep track of your networking).
If you are losing sleep over what roles AI is most likely to replace, think about the trades (blue collar). I’m hearing, from my friends in the trades, that there is about to be a massive gap in people going into the trades. That is going to upset the economy a bit as the price of plumbing, HVAC, welding, electrical, etc., could sky rocket. I don’t think I’m going to see an AI bot in my basement swapping out my water heater anytime soon.