Yesterday, I had a thought-provoking conversation with my one-month-old son about his future career prospects. AI is coming for his job. As a parent, I couldn’t help but worry about what kind of world he will grow up in and what opportunities will be available to him. I told him that the job market will be highly competitive in the future, with limited options to choose from. The reason being that AI is rapidly advancing and is likely to take over many jobs in various industries. While there will still be a need for human experts to oversee AI’s performance, the number of positions available will be limited.
AI will have access to vast amounts of data and a significantly higher IQ, making it a better candidate for jobs in fields such as medicine, engineering, art, accounting, and law. For instance, why would one trust a doctor when they can get more accurate answers from AI? In the future, doctors will simply collect data, feed it into AI systems, receive a response, and sign off on the paperwork.
The “AI creator economy” is on the rise, and tools will soon be available to anyone who wants to become an interior designer, artist, or app developer. All they will have to do is communicate their requirements to AI, which will then generate the desired 2D, 3D, apps, videos, images, or anything else. It is going to level the field in these fields.
Competition for every profession will be intense, and only the brightest will secure the limited number of jobs available. Although human touch will still be valued, with the world’s population soon reaching 9 billion, there may not be enough jobs in fields like engineering and medicine. Lawyers won’t need paralegals, doctors won’t need radiologists, and companies won’t need software engineers. Instead, there will be AI prompt experts who will instruct AI to produce the desired product. Some companies are already paying salaries of $300,000 or more for such positions.
Sports will also become more competitive, and if the job market is tough, why not give it a shot? But everyone will think the same way, and competition will grow.
Will manual labor jobs be the only option left for humans, and will AI take care of the more difficult tasks? Unfortunately, even manual labor jobs will be impacted by AI. Humanoids are rapidly advancing, and many companies already have impressive prototypes. It’s only a matter of time before they become as common as cars and cost a fraction of what a human worker would.
Every industry will be impacted by AI, whether we like it or not, and as a human civilization, we need to ask ourselves if we are ready for it and what we plan to do about it. Will we have a WALL-E-like existence or a Skynet situation? The possibility of these science fiction scenarios becoming a reality is skyrocketing.
In the past, during revolutions such as the industrial revolution, people were not happy with the displacement of old jobs, but new jobs were created. In this AI revolition, it’s different. The purpose of AI is to make everything we do better and cheaper not just few things. How will we cope with this change? The answer is uncertain, and we need to take a step back and consider our options.
As a society, it’s crucial that we start having discussions about the future of work and how AI will impact it. We need to be proactive in finding solutions to ensure that everyone has access to meaningful work and a fulfilling life. This could mean rethinking our education system to focus on developing skills that cannot be easily automated, such as critical thinking, creativity, and empathy. It could also mean finding new ways to distribute wealth and support those who may be displaced by AI.