We’ve all heard the news – AI robots are coming for all of our jobs. And it’s not gone without its consequences on our anxieties: apparently six in 10 of us think jobs will be lost to robotics, according to polling by YouGov.
Whether you work in the media, computing, law or teaching, there are seemingly endless ways that AI can encroach on our jobs, from copywriting, to producing legal documents usually written by assistants, to producing coursework.
Our worries aren’t completely unsubstantiated. BT is reported to be shedding up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade with up to a fifth replaced by technologies including artificial intelligence.
And a recent study by Goldman Sachs found that generative AI tools could impact 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, which could lead to a “significant disruption” in the job market.
So, which jobs are most likely to be lost to AI?
Coding, programming and data analysis
In no particular order, it’s thought that, due to AI essentially being a robot who can process data at lightning speed rates, it’s natural that some jobs, like analysing data and coding will be automated by robots at some point in the future. There are already AI coding assistant websites available, like AI Codi and Code Pal. Whether they do as good of a job as human coders remains to be seen.
Content creation, copy and technical writing
While it’s hard to imagine an AI being able to replicate the tone, nuance, humour and personality that shines through when an actual writer writes copy, (I’m maybe a bit biased here, being a journalist myself!) it’s predicted that AI will take over a portion of these jobs.
It’s easy to see how – ask Chat GPT to write some copy for a website and it’ll churn out something pretty readable. I could see this being utilisied for things like website blogs and copy for business websites, but for features and columns? I think not. (Read: She hopes not).
Paralegals and legal assistants
Due to law documents being data-heavy, using very particular language that’s noted in documents that AI can search through online, it would be very easy for AI to turn large swathes of information into an easy-to-read document – far quicker than a human being could.
Experts suggest that AI would never fully take over this occupation, though, as human judgement is obviously such a large part of the profession.
Teachers and teaching assistants
Homework marking and writing coursework is part of the job that teachers seem to take home the most, so AI is something they could potentially use to their benefit. Ask Chat GPT for a lesson plan and sit back and eat your dinner.
This is another job, though, where human connections are paramount, so AI would never fully take over the teaching profession. And thank god for that.
Market researchers
Taking information and turning it into easy to digest slides and presentations for businesses is unfortunately something that AI is a dab hand at.
AI tools like Chat GPT use the internet for its references, so business owners could easily ask the AI for market research information. For instance, if their customer base is mostly millenials, they could ask the AI, “Which coffees do millennials enjoy the most?” and get the information instantaneously. Of course, the coffee shop owner should already know this; it;’s an oat milk double shot flat white.
So, there you have it. In some ways, AI will encroach on some roles quite heavily. But for others, it can be used as a tool to speed up some jobs. For now, I’m going to try and enjoy as much as I can – while I still can!