10+ Jobs Likely to Be Replaced by AI in the Near Future

As we enter a new era of technology, namely AI, some might wonder what jobs will AI replace in the near future. With AI technologies and AI tools advancing at a frantic pace, it's almost a guarantee that AI will be taking over many jobs performed by human workers.

Some say that due to the significant disruption and rapid advancement seen across all business sectors, AI replacing jobs and human resources is only a matter of time, and it’s not a difficult question to answer at all because AI at this point can already be used to do so many jobs more efficiently, compared to human being. The current capabilities of AI and AI-powered tools range from completing repetitive tasks tirelessly, correcting code, proofreading essays, creating curriculums, editing photos, and producing animations all by entering the right prompts. 

However, others also believe human will remain crucial and that jobs being replaced by AI technology in the immediate future is still too soon to say, as many job roles require human capabilities, human drivers, human judgment, human connection, human emotions, human touch as well as emotional intelligence and emotional responses. For example, AI-powered chatbots might be able to replace a customer service representative to some degree, but the human perspective and deep understanding when answering customer inquiries by provided human beings are naturally unmatched by a mere automated system or AI skills.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Job Market

Automation is a vital tool of modern industry

Many industries are prioritizing AI for several different reasons, but automation is likely the most common and crucial role. Automation has existed for a long time, but with rapid advancements in current AI technologies, software and robotics have been greatly enhanced to make manual labor production significantly more efficient. Naturally, the more efficient automation becomes, the less demand there will be for human labor like factory workers to do mundane tasks for companies. 

Different skills are valued in the AI era

A significant number of people in the labor force worry about their skills becoming obsolete, but it's important to recognize that AI opens up exciting new opportunities for skill investment and growth. The most obvious demand for new skills in the AI era is skills revolving around using AI and AI systems.

It’s important to recognize that AI is still only a tool, with no agency of its own. This means that people who know how to use AI as a tool the most effectively will become the most highly valuable workers. People with a solid AI foundation, especially data scientists and software engineers are going to be great assets to every single industry, even those not directly involved in technology. 

However, this does not mean that everyone needs to become a computer scientist or computer programmer to compete in the job market to avoid job replacement. While there will undoubtedly be an uptick in learning hard skills like data analysis, a way to separate yourself from other colleagues is to focus on your soft skills.

AI is incredibly efficient when it comes to automation, but it is still far behind in many things humans are good at such as communicating, empathy, leadership, teamwork, or even interpersonal conflict resolution. Despite technological advancements, Artificial Intelligence still cannot figure out ways to solve common problems the same way that skilled and intellectual labor regularly does. People simply have more frames of reference and ways of obtaining contextual information and forming strategic planning that makes their creativity and critical thinking more applicable and solutions more practical than what AI can usually offer. This is why it is important to have people with amazing problem-solving and creative attributes guiding AI.

There are certain jobs that are heavily reliant on human interaction that AI simply cannot compete with for the time being. First is roles in management. While AI may have the organizational aspect, it still lack the ability to properly communicate with other colleagues, analyze data as well as make a decision like human workers do. Next is consulting jobs like those in charge of financial analysis and legal research. Since industrial knowledge is highly nuanced, someone who has spent years helping others develop their companies will be able to provide valuable information in a clearer way that an AI cannot replicate. Many believe that AI will also have a significant impact on teaching jobs. However, while AI tools can generate lesson plans and curriculums, they still cannot emulate managing a classroom, mentoring a student, or simply have the charisma that some educators may possess. The same applies to social workers. Humans are best suited to understanding how other humans think, and the problems that people go through on a day-to-day basis. Psychologists, therapists, social workers, and certain Human Resource developers all have to solve issues around the most complex computer of all — the mind. Lastly, healthcare personnel are also irreplaceable. Although AI will make administration more efficient, the face-to-face roles of doctors, physician assistants, technicians, nurses, dentists, and veterinarians are all roles that prompt-based AI has no means of competing with. These individuals not only need to make complex decisions based on experience but often need to make patients feel at ease in situations that may be uncomfortable. 

The rise of AI has not necessarily eliminated jobs, but in many cases have simply transferred them from the office to someone’s home. Jobs that are heavily affected by AI writing tools, generative AI, and AI-generated content like assistants, content writers, and graphic designers no longer need to be in-house employees, and companies will begin to hire people with these professions on a case-by-case basis.

AI has greatly grown the gig economy, and by association, remote work is becoming the norm for many careers. This can be a major benefit to people as it provides the ability to work for multiple companies at once, more autonomy over your career, and a less high-pressure environment of working in an office. 

Despite the concern of job replacement, AI will also create new jobs, and companies will reallocate their resources to different professions. Therefore, there will be a reduction in some jobs while others will drastically increase in both wage and demand. The more skilled you are, the more likely you are to be on the receiving end of a higher wage, especially if you have familiarized yourself with AI which will eventually become the standard. 

10+ Jobs Are Likely to Be Replaced by AI

Even though there are careers that are going to be AI-resistant, it is still inevitable that many positions in certain industries will be replaced. Let’s go over certain careers you may approach with caution, or if you already have these positions you should consider growing your skillset to keep yourself relevant.

1. Retail Clerks

AI is incredibly good at repetition, so jobs revolving around repetition are at threat of being replaced. 

Cashiers, checkout clerks, and store clerks are all at threat of automation. Brick and Mortar stores are implementing self-check checkout stations that are more cost-efficient than paying cashiers wages and benefits. McKinsey & Company says that companies can save over $300 billion in revenue by reducing their labor cost due to automation.

Connectivity between people's online accounts and in-person checkouts means you can simply walk out with your goods and have everything billed to your account. This also gives companies valuable data on your buying habits, increasing their effectiveness in making you a consistent customer.

2. Manufacturing Workers

AI taking over the assembly lines is highly likely, especially if the company is filled with unskilled labor. Thanks to AI, robotics has increased to a level where human manufacturing workers are not nearly as prized. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, 85 million routine-based jobs will be replaced in manufacturing and neighboring industries by AI.

Along with assembly line workers, machine operators, and quality insurance, demand will go down. Software has developed to the point where many machines, including vehicles, are self-operational. The combination of machine learning and AI Vision has created software that can sense defects in products at both a faster and more accurate rate than human quality insurance inspectors can do.

3. Drivers

According to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), delivery of truck drivers and other driving professions will decline by 3% by 2030 due to automation.

Vehicles no longer need manual drivers to operate. AI also makes more effective decisions for more optimal routes, has better estimates on changes in traffic and weather, and can avoid costly traffic accidents to greatly raise profitability for delivery-based companies.

Not only will automated vehicles replace drivers of automobiles, but automobiles themselves will have to compete with drones. Amazon has a drone-based service called Amazon Air which can effectively bypass contemporary traffic. More development and infrastructure for drones will possibly revolutionize the courier industry. 

4. Accountants

Gartner produced a survey that said 37% of companies have already begun implementing AI in their finance departments. The automation of accounting in the legal industry has been a massive plus for more advanced accountants, giving them more time to focus on strategy instead of mundane tasks, but junior accountants, are likely to be replaced.

Jobs related to bookkeeping, payroll and accounts repayable will be reduced. These are typically entry-level jobs in accounting, and because many of them involve relatively simple, routine tasks, they are perfect for AI systems to handle.

Assistant-based roles like Assistant Auditor and Assistant Cost Accountant will not be in high demand anymore as well. It will be more effective for the senior accountant to simply use the AI as its assistant, given that it is a tool that doesn’t make many mistakes if you tell it what to do. 

5. Customer Service Representatives 

The way we interact with customer service has already changed in a gigantic way. Nearly every company you reach out to has you speaking to an AI initially. Gartner claims that 70% of companies already use some type of machine learning application to interact with customer inquiries.

No matter what platform you use to reach out to companies — email, chatbox, or phone call, you are going to interact with a bot that has a database of how to solve common problems and a flowchart of how to interact with the consumer’s questions and information.

Due to how many problems are simple fixes in customer service, this means that certain IT technicians will have reduced roles, as AI will be able to troubleshoot many simple but frequent problems customers encounter.

6. Administrators

Administrators have typically been the glue that keeps firms together, but a study by Deloitte says that AI will reduce administrative costs by 40%.

Similar to how customer support agents are going to have to compete with automated messages, receptionists will no longer be a staple of many businesses.

Advance documentation systems and organizational applications will cut into the jobs available for the traditional file clerk and office assistant. Data entry, which was at one point a highly coveted remote job, is becoming increasingly difficult to find since now AI can do those tasks with close to no error.

7. Financial Analysts

Finance has often been the backbone of white-collar and service industry-oriented societies, but even those with finance and business degrees are not immune to the effects of artificial intelligence. The World Economic Forum reports that 230,000 jobs in finance will be lost throughout the world by 2025.

This is due to the fact that many analytical jobs revolve around gathering, sorting, and projecting data. These were typically skills that needed a good degree of education, but sorting information and making predictive analysis is something that AI is proficient at. 

The need for decision-makers is still in demand, but the people who gave those decision-makers the data and tools they need will be replaced by advanced machine learning with relatively easy-to-use functionality.

8. Content Writers and Journalists

According to Gartner, 20% of all business content is produced by AI While writing is typically associated with “creativity”, which in theory should be AI resistant, there are large amounts of content that does not require much creative input.

There is a lot of content that is fact-oriented. The weather, the temperature, and the scores between sports teams - can all be reported by AI through automation. 

In addition, editors will have their duties reduced due to the effectiveness of AI’s proofreading ability. While AI is not perfect in terms of correcting grammatical, stylistic, and spelling mistakes, it is still fast and effortless.

9. Telemarketers

With a 27% rise of consumers now open to AI interaction (according to PwC), this means that cold calling will undergo a titanic shift. 

Cold calling is taxing and anxiety-reducing for most people, but an AI, can cold call relentlessly without any hesitation or fatigue, reaching an incredible number of potential clients within hours. AI will also be able to do call-backs and follow-up calls with perfect timing, providing telemarketing companies with little reason to have many salespersons.

Perhaps the most valuable role in telemarketing is the ability to generate leads. Due to AI's ability to collect and utilize mass amounts of data, leads can be generated through automation, reducing one of the most lucrative roles in the telemarketing industry.

10. Travel Advisors

It’s become commonplace to interact with bots when changing flights, accommodations, and other inquiries in someone's itinerary. Accenture says 85% of travelers are willing to use AI to plan their trips.

Personalization is one of the things that makes AI so powerful in the travel industry. AI's ability to analyze a person's preferences and give suggestions to the type of places they want to go or hotels they want to stay at reduces the need to get counsel from travel experts.

Destination experts will likely need to focus on telling people about emerging or hidden gem areas, as AI will inform travelers about the most common and visited destinations in an area. 

11. Legal Assistants

Roles like legal assistants in the legal industry revolve around gathering information and facts, which is a suitable task for artificial intelligence. Thomas Reuters has a study that indicates 76% of legal professionals believe AI will radically change the legal field by 2030. 

Paralegals, researchers, and drafters revolve around gathering data and writing reports for attorneys to use. Document indexing, case management, and templates that can generate contracts on a whim all drastically cut down the amount of labor needed for documentation-oriented roles. 

Other jobs involved in the legal area like transcription will be affected by AI Audio recognition with artificial intelligence is improving at a rapid pace, making basic transcriptions with little error plausible. 

How to Stay Relevant in the AI Era?

AI has already affected modern industry, and there is no turning back. From this point forward, AI’s influence on the job sector will only grow, and likely at a fast pace. Any serious professional should consider how to keep their skills up to date and develop strategies to make them non-expendable. 

The most obvious trait you need to protect your job from AI is to get rid of complacency in your skillset. Adopting a mindset of continuous learning has kept people resilient to technology redundancies for decades, and it will be no different when dealing with AI. 

Roles that revolve around analysis, data science, coding, designing, investing, and countless others benefit greatly from the implementation of AI’s powerful ability to automate useful templates, gather mass amounts of data, organize information into useful reports, and complete annoying chores that have plagued professionals who want to focus on the “big picture” elements of their career. 

Becoming familiar with AI tools to the point where you can implement them to supplement your career instead of becoming redundant is obtainable all over the internet. There are countless online courses, both paid for and free such as Google AI, DeepLearning AI, and Coursera that can offer you the skills you need as well as certifications to prove to employers you are useful in the modern market. 

Practicing your social skills will be paramount to staying relevant as well. Develop your communication ability and leverage it into going to networking events, seminars, and workshops to not only learn from other professionals but also find leads to high-level positions that will keep your resume looking marketable. 

Key Takeaways

In some ways, the threat of AI technology and AI tools to one's job market is nothing new. The use of smartphones, the internet, and computers in general all drastically changed the workforce, and those who were smart and ambitious flourished with adapting to the times.

AI exists to make life easier, not more difficult. So embrace the ways it can enhance your job and utilize it to make you more effective. 

If you’re still unsure of how to start your journey to developing your skills, you can visit Cake to learn strategies and tips on how to do so.

— Originally Written by Christopher Grudge —