Job Security: Will I Lose My Job to AI

It will be interesting to read this article close to its completion date of 16th July 2024 and then again in 5-10 years to see how AI has progressed and reflect back on how things have or have not changed since.

The general view around the above statement as to whether someone will lose their job to AI is somewhat polarised. Some experts and researches believe their will be an obvious and imminent shift in job descriptions and availability to humans, while others believe this will not be the case.

Perhaps the change may be somewhere in the middle akin to the farming industry with the advent of tractors. Yes tractors disrupted the industry and the way we farmed but it did not replace farmers entirely. Tractors did replace some farm labour but they also allowed farmers to produce more in less time.

Lets Begin With Work Place Transparency

In order to track this change initially, or at least until its blatantly obvious we require businesses to be honest and transparent about work place redundencies and the driving forces behind them. Without accurate data, predictions are difficult to make. This statement stems largely where many organisational layoffs are not publicly announced, and statements that frame job cuts as part of a broader shift towards a more digitally driven offering can invisiblise these employment shifts. This behaviour strongly suggests that our culture has not yet accepted the possibility of losing jobs to AI and a level of dishonesty exists around the subject.

Will I Lose My Job to AI: Areas of Most Risk

Clear areas where jobs are considered to be most at risk in the near future, are those that can be easily automated and replaced by AI. Country's with an ageing population and a commitment to transition to net-zero emission goals, may also cause greater job loss impact compared to where these factors dont exist.

Automated jobs easily replaced by AI usually occur around repetitive tasks and responsibilities. Jobs that rely on humans following pre-existing instructions that don’t need many or any analytical thinking skills. It will be these roles that are impacted quickly. These include jobs such as data entry, basic accounting, bookkeeping and payroll, ticketing and cashiering, call centre, secretaries and foreign language interprets.

Job sectors that are especially exposed to AI are retail and customer service through the prolific roll out of automated tellers using voice recognition and checkout systems. The entertainment industries artistic and creative occupations where AI software solutions are growing in popularity are clear and present examples of AIs disruption. AI generated video, voice over, imagery, animation, gaming, modelling and music have resulted in communicated concerns around job loses and copyright issues.

It is also highly possible with jobs where their is a high financial incentive to reduce the cost of labour, AI research and development maybe focused towards these more directly. For example in Healthcare AI is being focused on medical diagnostics, analyzing medical images, and even the ability to assist in surgeries. While not entirely replacing human healthcare providers, AI can augment capabilities. Within the Legal industry AI-powered document review and contract analysis tools are aimed at assisting lawyers in processing large volumes of legal documents efficiently. This reduces the need for manual review by legal professionals.

Will I Lose My Job to AI: Areas of Least Risk

On the other hand employees with highly specialised technical AI skills (like machine learning) — the very people who are making the AI revolution possible are experiencing high demand. These specialist jobs often carry up to a 25% wage premium, underlining the value of these skills. In addition, the adoption of AI could streamline positions by absorbing responsibilities into other professions that are replaced by AI like system administrators, telecommunications engineers and hardware technicians. These roles are critical in maintaining and operating AI and its underlying infrastructure.

Statistics show the top five industries looking for candidates with AI expertise are professional services, administrative and support services, government administration, manufacturing and retail with companies increasingly also looking to hire professionals with non-technical AI literacy, such sales and supply chain.

Less risk exposed jobs that are unlikely to be disrupted by AI are those that heavily leverage skills in managing people, communicating, leading, empathising and organising. Human qualities still remain useful and valuable across most industries.

Many jobs in the construction sector, from painters to bricklayers and site supervisors, have a significantly lower risk of being replaced. The cost of hiring for physical construction based roles, versus manufacturing and maintaining a robot to do the same thing, means this type of role is unlikely to be displaced for now.

An Interesting AI Study

PwC’s AI Jobs Barometer Survey "examined half a billion job ads from 15 countries to uncover AI’s impact. It found that the general take way for workers is that, if they learn how to use AI, they could be more productive — and hence more valuable to employers. In fact, AI is redefining what it means to be a financial analyst, a customer service agent, or a marketer, for example opening up whole new possibilities for these workers to deliver results".

AI signals the start of a new era in which workers can be more productive and valuable than ever. Workers who learn to harness AI are likely to have bright futures in which they can generate greater value and could consequently have greater bargaining power for wages.

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Will I lose my job to AI - A Final Thought: If you have children it may be wise to start thinking about the implications of these changes to help them decide what kind of career they might wish to have. It may be wise to think about whether it will exist in the future.

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